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The History of Herodotus — Volume 2

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Title: The History of Herodotus — Volume 2

Author: Herodotus

Translator: G. C. Macaulay


        
Release date: January 1, 2001 [eBook #2456]
                Most recently updated: August 26, 2025

Language: English

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Credits: Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and David Widger


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS — VOLUME 2 ***




THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS

By Herodotus

Translated into English by G. C. Macaulay

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. II

     {e Herodotou diathesis en apasin epieikes, kai tois men
     agathois sunedomene, tois de kakois sunalgousa}.—Dion.
     Halic.




PREPARER'S NOTE

This text was prepared from the third edition, printed in 1914, by
MacMillan and Co., Limited, St. Martin's Street, London.

Greek text has been transliterated and marked with brackets, as in the
opening citation above.





THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS




BOOK V. THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE HISTORIES, CALLED TERPSICHORE

1. In the meantime those of the Persians who had been left behind in
Europe by Dareios, of whom Megabazos was the commander, had subdued the
people of Perinthos first of the Hellespontians, since they refused to
be subject to Dareios. These had in former times also been hardly dealt
with by the Paionians: for the Paionians from the Strymon had been
commanded by an oracle of their god to march against the Perinthians;
and if the Perinthians, when encamped opposite to them, should shout
aloud and call to them by their name, they were to attack them; but if
they should not shout to them, they were not to attack them: and thus
the Paionians proceeded to do. Now when the Perinthians were encamped
opposite to them in the suburb of their city, a challenge was made and
a single combat took place in three different forms; for they matched a
man against a man, and a horse against a horse, and a dog against a dog.
Then, as the Perinthians were getting the better in two of the three,
in their exultation they raised a shout of paion, 1 and the Paionians
conjectured that this was the very thing which was spoken of in the
oracle, and said doubtless to one another, "Now surely the oracle
is being accomplished for us, now it is time for us to act." So the
Paionians attacked the Perinthians when they had raised the shout of
paion, and they had much the better in the fight, and left but few of
them alive.

2. Thus it happened with respect to those things which had been done to
them in former times by the Paionians; and at this time, although the
Perinthians proved themselves brave men in defence of their freedom,
the Persians and Megabazos got the better of them by numbers. Then after
Perinthos had been conquered, Megabazos marched his army through the
length of Thracia, forcing every city and every race of those who
dwell there to submit to the king, for so it had been commanded him by
Dareios, to subdue Thracia.

3. Now the Thracian race is the most numerous, except the Indians, in
all the world: and if it should come to be ruled over by one man, or
to agree together in one, it would be irresistible in fight and the
strongest by far of all nations, in my opinion. Since however this is
impossible for them and cannot ever come to pass among them, 2 they are
in fact weak for that reason. They have many names, belonging to their
various tribes in different places; but they all follow customs which
are nearly the same in all respects, except the Getai and Trausians and
those who dwell above the Crestonians.

4. Of these the practices of the Getai, who believe themselves to be
immortal, have been spoken of by me already: 3 and the Trausians perform
everything else in the same manner as the other Thracians, but in regard
to those who are born and die among them they do as follows:--when
a child has been born, the nearest of kin sit round it and make
lamentation for all the evils of which he must fulfil the measure, now
that he is born, 301 enumerating the whole number of human ills; but
when a man is dead, they cover him up in the earth with sport and
rejoicing, saying at the same time from what great evils he has escaped
and is now in perfect bliss.

5. Those who dwell above the Crestonians do as follows:--each man has
many wives, and when any man of them is dead, a great competition takes
place among his wives, with much exertion on the part of their friends,
about the question of which of them was most loved by their husband; and
she who is preferred by the decision and so honoured, is first praised
by both men and women, then her throat is cut over the tomb by her
nearest of kin, and afterwards she is buried together with her husband;
and the others are exceedingly grieved at it, for this is counted as the
greatest reproach to them.

6. Of the other Thracians the custom is to sell their children to be
carried away out of the country; and over their maidens they do not keep
watch, but allow them to have commerce with whatever men they please,
but over their wives they keep very great watch; and they buy their
wives for great sums of money from their parents. To be pricked with
figures is accounted a mark of noble rank, and not to be so marked is a
sign of low birth. 4 Not to work is counted most honourable, and to be a
worker of the soil is above all things dishonourable: to live on war and
plunder is the most honourable thing.

7. These are their most remarkable customs; and of the gods they worship
only Ares and Dionysos and Artemis. Their kings, however, apart from the
rest of the people, worship Hermes more than all gods, and swear by him
alone; and they say that they are descended from Hermes.

8. The manner of burial for the rich among them is this:--for three days
they expose the corpse to view, and they slay all kinds of victims
and feast, having first made lamentation. Then they perform the burial
rites, either consuming the body with fire or covering it up in the
earth without burning; and afterwards when they have heaped up a mound
they celebrate games with every kind of contest, in which reasonably the
greatest prizes are assigned for single combat. 5 This is the manner of
burial among the Thracians.

9. Of the region lying further on towards the North of this country
no one can declare accurately who the men are who dwell in it; but the
parts which lie immediately beyond the Ister are known to be uninhabited
and vast in extent. The only men of whom I can hear who dwell beyond
the Ister are those who are said to be called Sigynnai, and who use the
Median fashion of dress. Their horses, it is said, have shaggy hair all
over their bodies, as much as five fingers long; and these are small and
flat-nosed and too weak to carry men, but when yoked in chariots they
are very high-spirited; therefore the natives of the country drive
chariots. The boundaries of this people extend, it is said, to the parts
near the Enetoi, who live on the Adriatic; and people say that they
are colonists from the Medes. In what way however these have come to
be colonists from the Medes I am not able for my part to conceive, but
everything is possible in the long course of ages. However that may be,
the Ligurians who dwell in the region inland above Massalia call traders
sigynnai, and the men of Cyprus give the same name to spears.

10. Now the Thracians say that the other side of the Ister is occupied
by bees, and that by reason of them it is not possible to pass through
and proceed further: but to me it seems that when they so speak, they
say that which is not probable; for these creatures are known to be
intolerant of cold, and to me it seems that the regions which go up
towards the pole are uninhabitable by reason of the cold climate. These
then are the tales reported about this country; and however that may
be, Megabazos was then making the coast-regions of it subject to the
Persians.

11. Meanwhile Dareios, so soon as he had crossed over the Hellespont and
come to Sardis, called to mind the service rendered to him by Histiaios
the Milesian and also the advice of the Mytilenian Coës, and having
sent for them to come to Sardis he offered them a choice of rewards.
Histiaios then, being despot of Miletos, did not make request for
any government in addition to that, but he asked for the district of
Myrkinos which belonged to the Edonians, desiring there to found a city.
Histiaios chose this for himself; but Coës, not being a despot but a man
of the people, asked to be made despot of Mitylene.

12. After the desires of both had been fulfilled, they betook themselves
to that which they had chosen: and at this same time it chanced that
Dareios saw a certain thing which made him desire to command Megabazos
to conquer the Paionians and remove them forcibly from Europe into Asia:
and the thing was this:--There were certain Paionians named Pigres and
Mantyas, who when Dareios had crossed over into Asia, came to Sardis,
because they desired themselves to have rule over the Paionians, and
with them they brought their sister, who was tall and comely. Then
having watched for a time when Dareios took his seat publicly in the
suburb of the Lydian city, they dressed up their sister in the best way
they could, and sent her to fetch water, having a water-jar upon her
head and leading a horse after her by a bridle round her arm, and at the
same time spinning flax. Now when the woman passed out of the city by
him, Dareios paid attention to the matter, for that which was done by
the woman was not of Persian nor yet of Lydian fashion, nor indeed
after the manner of any people of Asia. He sent therefore some of his
spearmen, bidding them watch what the woman would do with the horse.
They accordingly followed after her; and she having arrived at the river
watered the horse, and having watered him and filled her jar with the
water, she passed along by the same way, bearing the water upon her
head, leading the horse after her by a bridle round her arm, and at the
same time turning the spindle.

13. Then Dareios, marvelling both at that which he heard from those who
went to observe and also at that which he saw himself, bade them bring
her into his presence: and when she was brought, her brothers also came,
who had been watching these things at no great distance off. So then
when Dareios asked of what country she was, the young men said that they
were Paionians and that she was their sister; and he replied: "Who then
are these Paionians, and where upon the earth do they dwell?" and he
asked them also what they desired, that they had come to Sardis. They
declared to him that they had come to give themselves up to him, and
that Paionia was a country situated upon the river Strymon, and that
the Strymon was not far from the Hellespont, and finally that they were
colonists from the Teucrians of Troy. All these things severally they
told him; and he asked whether all the women of that land were as
industrious as their sister; and they very readily replied to this also,
saying that it was so, for it was with a view to that very thing that
they had been doing this.

14. Then Dareios wrote a letter to Megabazos, whom he had left to
command his army in Thrace, bidding him remove the Paionians from their
place of habitation and bring them to the king, both themselves and
their children and their wives. Then forthwith a horseman set forth to
ride in haste bearing the message to the Hellespont, and having passed
over to the other side he gave the paper to Megabazos. So he having
read it and having obtained guides from Thrace, set forth to march upon
Paionia:

15. and the Paionians, being informed that the Persians were coming
against them, gathered all their powers together and marched out in the
direction of the sea, supposing that the Persians when they invaded them
would make their attack on that side. The Paionians then were prepared,
as I say, to drive off the army of Megabazos when it came against them;
but the Persians hearing that the Paionians had gathered their powers
and were guarding the entrance which lay towards the sea, directed their
course with guides along the upper road; and passing unperceived by the
Paionians they fell upon their cities, which were left without men, and
finding them without defenders they easily took possession of them. The
Paionians when they heard that their cities were in the hands of the
enemy, at once dispersed, each tribe to its own place of abode, and
proceeded to deliver themselves up to the Persians. Thus then it
happened that these tribes of the Paionians, namely the Siropaionians,
6 the Paioplians and all up to the lake Prasias, were removed from their
place of habitation and brought to Asia;

16. but those who dwell about mount Pangaion, and about the Doberians
and Agrianians and Odomantians, 7 and about the lake Prasias itself,
were not conquered at all by Megabazos. He tried however to remove even
those who lived in the lake and who had their dwellings in the following
manner:--a platform fastened together and resting upon lofty piles stood
in the middle of the water of the lake, with a narrow approach to it
from the mainland by a single bridge. The piles which supported the
platform were no doubt originally set there by all the members of the
community working together, but since that time they continue to set
them by observance of this rule, that is to say, every man who marries
brings from the mountain called Orbelos three piles for each wife and
sets them as supports; and each man takes to himself many wives. And
they have their dwelling thus, that is each man has possession of a hut
upon the platform in which he lives and of a trap-door 8 leading through
the platform down to the lake: and their infant children they tie with
a rope by the foot, for fear that they should roll into the water. To
their horses and beasts of burden they give fish for fodder; and of fish
there is so great quantity that if a man open the trap-door and let down
an empty basket by a cord into the lake, after waiting quite a short
time he draws it up again full of fish. Of the fish there are two kinds,
and they call them paprax and tilon.

17. So then those of the Paionians who had been conquered were being
brought to Asia: and Megabazos meanwhile, after he had conquered the
Paionians, sent as envoys to Macedonia seven Persians, who after himself
were the men of most repute in the army. These were being sent to
Amyntas to demand of him earth and water for Dareios the king. Now from
lake Prasias there is a very short way into Macedonia; for first, quite
close to the lake, there is the mine from which after this time there
came in regularly a talent of silver every day to Alexander; and after
the mine, when you have passed over the mountain called Dysoron, you are
in Macedonia.

18. These Persians then, who had been sent to Amyntas, having arrived
came into the presence of Amyntas and proceeded to demand earth and
water for king Dareios. This he was willing to give, and also he invited
them to be his guests; and he prepared a magnificent dinner and received
the Persians with friendly hospitality. Then when dinner was over, the
Persians while drinking pledges to one another 9 said thus: "Macedonian
guest-friend, it is the custom among us Persians, when we set forth a
great dinner, then to bring in also our concubines and lawful wives to
sit beside us. Do thou then, since thou didst readily receive us and
dost now entertain us magnificently as thy guests, and since thou art
willing to give to king Dareios earth and water, consent to follow our
custom." To this Amyntas replied: "Persians, among us the custom is not
so, but that men should be separate from women. Since however ye being
our masters make this request in addition, this also shall be given
you." Having so said Amyntas proceeded to send for the women; and
when they came being summoned, they sat down in order opposite to the
Persians. Then the Persians, seeing women of comely form, spoke to
Amyntas and said that this which had been done was by no means well
devised; for it was better that the women should not come at all, than
that they should come and should not seat themselves by their side, but
sit opposite and be a pain to their eyes. So Amyntas being compelled
bade them sit by the side of the Persians; and when the women obeyed,
forthwith the Persians, being much intoxicated, began to touch their
breasts, and some no doubt also tried to kiss them.

19. Amyntas seeing this kept quiet, notwithstanding that he felt anger,
because he excessively feared the Persians; but Alexander the son
of Amyntas, who was present and saw this, being young and without
experience of calamity was not able to endure any longer; but being
impatient of it he said to Amyntas: "My father, do thou grant that
which thy age demands, and go away to rest, nor persevere longer in
the drinking; but I will remain here and give to our guests all that is
convenient." On this Amyntas, understanding that Alexander was intending
to do some violence, said: "My son, I think that I understand thy words,
as the heat of anger moves thee, namely that thou desirest to send me
away and then do some deed of violence: therefore I ask of thee not to
do violence to these men, that it may not be our ruin, but endure to see
that which is being done: as to my departure, however, in that I will do
as thou sayest."

20. When Amyntas after having made of him this request had departed,
Alexander said to the Persians: "With these women ye have perfect
freedom, guests, to have commerce with all, if ye so desire, or with as
many of them as ye will. About this matter ye shall be they who give the
word; but now, since already the hour is approaching for you to go to
bed and I see that ye have well drunk, let these women go away, if so it
is pleasing to you, to bathe themselves; and when they have bathed, then
receive them back into your company." Having so said, since the Persians
readily agreed, he dismissed the women, when they had gone out, to the
women's chambers; and Alexander himself equipped men equal in number to
the women and smooth-faced, in the dress of the women, and giving them
daggers he led them into the banqueting-room; and as he led them in, he
said thus to the Persians: "Persians, it seems to me that ye have been
entertained with a feast to which nothing was wanting; for other things,
as many as we had, and moreover such as we were able to find out and
furnish, are all supplied to you, and there is this especially besides,
which is the chief thing of all, that is, we give you freely in addition
our mothers and our sisters, in order that ye may perceive fully that
ye are honoured by us with that treatment which ye deserve, and also in
order that ye may report to the king who sent you that a man of Hellas,
ruler under him of the Macedonians, entertained you well at board and
bed." Having thus said Alexander caused a Macedonian man in the guise of
a woman to sit by each Persian, and they, when the Persians attempted to
lay hands on them, slew them.

21. So these perished by this fate, both they themselves and their
company of servants; for there came with them carriages and servants and
all the usual pomp of equipage, and this was all made away with at the
same time as they. Afterwards in no long time a great search was made by
the Persians for these men, and Alexander stopped them with cunning
by giving large sums of money and his own sister, whose name was
Gygaia;--by giving, I say, these things to Bubares a Persian, commander
of those who were searching for the men who had been killed, Alexander
stopped their search.

22. Thus the death of these Persians was kept concealed. And that these
descendants of Perdiccas are Hellenes, as they themselves say, I happen
to know myself, and not only so, but I will prove in the succeeding
history that they are Hellenes. 10 Moreover the Hellanodicai, who manage
the games at Olympia, decided that they were so: for when Alexander
wished to contend in the games and had descended for this purpose into
the arena, the Hellenes who were to run against him tried to exclude
him, saying that the contest was not for Barbarians to contend in but
for Hellenes: since however Alexander proved that he was of Argos,
he was judged to be a Hellene, and when he entered the contest of the
foot-race his lot came out with that of the first. 11

23. Thus then it happened with regard to these things: and at the same
time Megabazos had arrived at the Hellespont bringing with him the
Paionians; and thence after passing over the straits he came to Sardis.
Then, since Histiaios the Milesian was already engaged in fortifying
with a wall the place which he had asked and obtained from Dareios as a
reward for keeping safe the bridge of boats (this place being that
which is called Myrkinos, lying along the bank of the river Strymon),
Megabazos, having perceived that which was being done by Histiaios, as
soon as he came to Sardis bringing the Paionians, said thus to Dareios:
"O king, what a thing is this that thou hast done, granting permission
to a Hellene who is skilful and cunning to found a city in Thracia in
a place where there is forest for shipbuilding in abundance and great
quantity of wood for oars and mines of silver and great numbers both
of Hellenes and Barbarians living round, who when they have obtained
a leader will do that which he shall command them both by day and by
night. Therefore stop this man from doing so, that thou be not involved
in a domestic war: and stop him by sending for him in a courteous
manner; but when thou hast got him in thy hands, then cause that he
shall never again return to the land of the Hellenes."

24. Thus saying Megabazos easily persuaded Dareios, who thought that he
was a true prophet of that which was likely to come to pass: and
upon that Dareios sent a messenger to Myrkinos and said as follows:
"Histiaios, king Dareios saith these things:--By taking thought I find
that there is no one more sincerely well disposed than thou art to me
and to my power; and this I know having learnt by deeds not words. Now
therefore, since I have it in my mind to accomplish great matters,
come hither to me by all means, that I may communicate them to thee."
Histiaios therefore, trusting to these sayings and at the same time
accounting it a great thing to become a counsellor of the king, came
to Sardis; and when he had come Dareios spoke to him as follows:
"Histiaios, I sent for thee for this reason, namely because when I had
returned from the Scythians and thou wert gone away out of the sight of
my eyes, never did I desire to see anything again within so short a time
as I desired then both to see thee and that thou shouldst come to speech
with me; since I perceived that the most valuable of all possessions is
a friend who is a man of understanding and also sincerely well-disposed,
both which qualities I know exist in thee, and I am able to bear witness
of them in regard to my affairs. Now therefore (for thou didst well in
that thou camest hither) this is that which I propose to thee:--leave
Miletos alone and also thy newly-founded city in Thracia, and coming
with me to Susa, have whatsoever things I have, eating at my table and
being my counseller."

25. Thus said Dareios, and having appointed Artaphrenes 12 his own
brother and the son of his father to be governor of Sardis, he marched
away to Susa taking with him Histiaios, after he had first named Otanes
to be commander of those who dwelt along the sea coasts. This man's
father Sisamnes, who had been made one of the Royal Judges, king
Cambyses slew, because he had judged a cause unjustly for money, and
flayed off all his skin: then after he had torn away the skin he cut
leathern thongs out of it and stretched them across the seat where
Sisamnes had been wont to sit to give judgment; and having stretched
them in the seat, Cambyses appointed the son of that Sisamnes whom he
had slain and flayed, to be judge instead of his father, enjoining him
to remember in what seat he was sitting to give judgment.

26. This Otanes then, who was made to sit in that seat, had now
become the successor of Megabazos in the command: and he conquered the
Byzantians and Calchedonians, and he conquered Antandros in the land
of Troas, and Lamponion; and having received ships from the Lesbians
he conquered Lemnos and Imbros, which were both at that time still
inhabited by Pelasgians.

27. Of these the Lemnians fought well, and defending themselves for a
long time were at length brought to ruin; 13 and over those of them
who survived the Persians set as governor Lycaretos the brother of that
Maiandrios who had been king of Samos. This Lycaretos ruled in Lemnos
till his death. And the cause of it 14 was this:--he continued to
reduce all to slavery and subdue them, accusing some of desertion to the
Scythians and others of doing damage to the army of Dareios as it was
coming back from Scythia.

28. Otanes then effected so much when he was made commander: and after
this for a short time there was an abatement 15 of evils; and then again
evils began a second time to fall upon the Ionians, arising from Naxos
and Miletos. For Naxos was superior to all the other islands in wealth,
and Miletos at the same time had just then come to the very height of
its prosperity and was the ornament 16 of Ionia; but before these events
for two generations of men it had been afflicted most violently by
faction until the Parians reformed it; for these the Milesians chose of
all the Hellenes to be reformers of their State.

29. Now the Parians thus reconciled their factions:--the best men of
them came to Miletos, and seeing that the Milesians were in a grievously
ruined state, they said that they desired to go over their land: and
while doing this and passing through the whole territory of Miletos,
whenever they saw in the desolation of the land any field that was well
cultivated, they wrote down the name of the owner of that field. Then
when they had passed through the whole land and had found but few of
such men, as soon as they returned to the city they called a general
gathering and appointed these men to manage the State, whose fields they
had found well cultivated; for they said that they thought these men
would take care of the public affairs as they had taken care of their
own: and the rest of the Milesians, who before had been divided by
factions, they commanded to be obedient to these men.

30. The Parians then had thus reformed the Milesians; but at the time of
which I speak evils began to come to Ionia from these States 17 in the
following manner:--From Naxos certain men of the wealthier class 18 were
driven into exile by the people, and having gone into exile they
arrived at Miletos. Now of Miletos it happened that Aristagoras son
of Molpagoras was ruler in charge, being both a son-in-law and also a
cousin of Histiaios the son of Lysagoras, whom Dareios was keeping at
Susa: for Histiaios was despot of Miletos, and it happened that he was
at Susa at this time when the Naxians came, who had been in former
times guest-friends of Histiaios. So when the Naxians arrived, they made
request of Aristagoras, to see if perchance he would supply them with
a force, and so they might return from exile to their own land: and he,
thinking that if by his means they should return to their own State, he
would be ruler of Naxos, but at the same time making a pretext of the
guest-friendship of Histiaios, made proposal to them thus: "I am not
able to engage that I can supply you with sufficient force to bring you
back from exile against the will of those Naxians who have control
of the State; for I hear that the Naxians have an army which is eight
thousand shields strong and many ships of war: but I will use every
endeavour to devise a means; and my plan is this:--it chances that
Artaphrenes is my friend: now Artaphrenes, ye must know, 1801 is a son
of Hystaspes and brother of Dareios the king; and he is ruler of all the
people of the sea-coasts in Asia, with a great army and many ships. This
man then I think will do whatsoever we shall request of him." Hearing
this the Naxians gave over the matter to Aristagoras to manage as
best he could, and they bade him promise gifts and the expenses of
the expedition, saying that they would pay them; for they had full
expectation that when they should appear at Naxos, the Naxians would do
all their bidding, and likewise also the other islanders. For of these
islands, that is the Cyclades, not one was as yet subject to Dareios.

31. Aristagoras accordingly having arrived at Sardis, said to
Artaphrenes that Naxos was an island not indeed large in size, but fair
nevertheless and of fertile soil, as well as near to Ionia, and that
there was in it much wealth and many slaves: "Do thou therefore send an
expedition against this land, and restore it to those who are now exiles
from it: and if thou shalt do this, first I have ready for thee large
sums of money apart from the expenses incurred for the expedition (which
it is fair that we who conduct it should supply), and next thou wilt
gain for the king not only Naxos itself but also the islands which are
dependent upon it, Paros and Andros and the others which are called
Cyclades; and setting out from these thou wilt easily attack Euboea, an
island which is large and wealthy, as large indeed as Cyprus, and very
easy to conquer. To subdue all these a hundred ships are sufficient."
He made answer in these words: "Thou makest thyself a reporter of good
things to the house of the king; and in all these things thou advisest
well, except as to the number of the ships: for instead of one hundred
there shall be prepared for thee two hundred by the beginning of the
spring. And it is right that the king himself also should join in
approving this matter."

32. So Aristagoras hearing this went back to Miletos greatly rejoiced;
and Artaphrenes meanwhile, when he had sent to Susa and communicated
that which was said by Aristagoras, and Dareios himself also had joined
in approving it, made ready two hundred triremes and a very great
multitude both of Persians and their allies, and appointed to be
commander of these Megabates a Persian, one of the Achaimenidai and a
cousin to himself and to Dareios, to whose daughter afterwards Pausanias
the son of Cleombrotus the Lacedaemonian (at least if the story be true)
betrothed himself, having formed a desire to become a despot of Hellas.
Having appointed Megabates, I say, to be commander, Artaphrenes sent
away the armament to Aristagoras.

33. So when Megabates had taken force together with the Naxians, he
sailed with the pretence of going to the Hellespont; but when he came
to Chios, he directed his ships to Caucasa, in order that he might from
thence pass them over to Naxos with a North Wind. Then, since it was
not fated that the Naxians should be destroyed by this expedition, there
happened an event which I shall narrate. As Megabates was going round to
visit the guards set in the several ships, it chanced that in a ship
of Myndos there was no one on guard; and he being very angry bade his
spearmen find out the commander of the ship, whose name was Skylax, and
bind him in an oar-hole of his ship in such a manner 19 that his head
should be outside and his body within. When Skylax was thus bound, some
one reported to Aristagoras that Megabates had bound his guest-friend
of Myndos and was doing to him shameful outrage. He accordingly came and
asked the Persian for his release, and as he did not obtain anything
of that which he requested, he went himself and let him loose. Being
informed of this Megabates was exceedingly angry and broke out in rage
against Aristagoras; and he replied: "What hast thou to do with
these matters? Did not Artaphrenes send thee to obey me, and to sail
whithersoever I should order? Why dost thou meddle with things which
concern thee not?" Thus said Aristagoras; and the other being enraged at
this, when night came on sent men in a ship to Naxos to declare to the
Naxians all the danger that threatened them.

34. For the Naxians were not at all expecting that this expedition
would be against them: but when they were informed of it, forthwith
they brought within the wall the property which was in the fields, and
provided for themselves food and drink as for a siege, and strengthened
their wall. 20 These then were making preparations as for war to come
upon them; and the others meanwhile having passed their ships over from
Chios to Naxos, found them well defended when they made their attack,
and besieged them for four months. Then when the money which the
Persians had brought with them had all been consumed by them, and not
only that, but Aristagoras himself had spent much in addition, and
the siege demanded ever more and more, they built walls for the Naxian
exiles and departed to the mainland again with ill success.

35. And so Aristagoras was not able to fulfil his promise to
Artaphrenes; and at the same time he was hard pressed by the demand made
to him for the expenses of the expedition, and had fears because of
the ill success of the armament and because he had become an enemy of
Megabates; and he supposed that he would be deprived of his rule over
Miletos. Having all these various fears he began to make plans of
revolt: for it happened also that just at this time the man who had been
marked upon the head had come from Histiaios who was at Susa, signifying
that Aristagoras should revolt from the king. For Histiaios, desiring
to signify to Aristagoras that he should revolt, was not able to do it
safely in any other way, because the roads were guarded, but shaved off
the hair of the most faithful of his slaves, and having marked his head
by pricking it, waited till the hair had grown again; and as soon as it
was grown, he sent him away to Miletos, giving him no other charge but
this, namely that when he should have arrived at Miletos he should bid
Aristagoras shave his hair and look at his head: and the marks, as I
have said before, signified revolt. This thing Histiaios was doing,
because he was greatly vexed by being detained at Susa. He had
great hopes then that if a revolt occurred he would be let go to
the sea-coast; but if no change was made at Miletos 2001 he had no
expectation of ever returning thither again.

36. Accordingly Histiaios with this intention was sending the messenger;
and it chanced that all these things happened to Aristagoras together at
the same time. He took counsel therefore with his partisans, declaring
to them both his own opinion and the message from Histiaios; and while
all the rest expressed an opinion to the same effect, urging him namely
to make revolt, Hecataios the historian urged first that they should not
undertake war with the king of the Persians, enumerating all the nations
over whom Dareios was ruler, and his power: and when he did not succeed
in persuading him, he counselled next that they should manage to make
themselves masters of the sea. Now this, he continued, could not come
to pass in any other way, so far as he could see, for he knew that the
force of the Milesians was weak, but if the treasures should be taken
21 which were in the temple at Branchidai, which Croesus the Lydian
dedicated as offerings, he had great hopes that they might become
masters of the sea; and by this means they would not only themselves
have wealth at their disposal, but the enemy would not be able to carry
the things off as plunder. Now these treasures were of great value, as
I have shown in the first part of the history. 22 This opinion did not
prevail; but nevertheless it was resolved to make revolt, and that one
of them should sail to Myus, to make the force which had returned from
Naxos and was then there, and endeavour to seize the commanders who
sailed in the ships.

37. So Iatragoras was sent for this purpose and seized by craft Oliatos
the son of Ibanollis of Mylasa, and Histiaios the son of Tymnes of
Termera, and Coës the son of Erxander, to whom Dareios had given
Mytilene as a gift, and Aristagoras the son of Heracleides of Kyme, and
many others; and then Aristagoras openly made revolt and devised all
that he could to the hurt of Dareios. And first he pretended to resign
the despotic power and give to Miletos equality, 23 in order that
the Milesians might be willing to revolt with him: then afterwards he
proceeded to do this same thing in the rest of Ionia also; and some of
the despots he drove out, but those whom he had taken from the ships
which had sailed with him to Naxis, these he surrendered, because he
desired to do a pleasure to their cities, delivering them over severally
to that city from which each one came.

38. Now the men of Mitylene, so soon as they received Coës into their
hands, brought him out and stoned him to death; but the men of Kyme let
their despot go, and so also most of the others let them go. Thus then
the despots were deposed in the various cities; and Aristagoras the
Milesian, after having deposed the despots, bade each people appoint
commanders in their several cities, and then himself set forth as an
envoy to Lacedemon; for in truth it was necessary that he should find
out some powerful alliance.

39. Now at Sparta Anaxandrides the son of Leon was no longer surviving
as king, but had brought his life to an end; and Cleomenes the son of
Anaxandrides was holding the royal power, not having obtained it by
merit but by right of birth. For Anaxandrides had to wife his own
sister's daughter and she was by him much beloved, but no children were
born to him by her. This being so, the Ephors summoned him before them
and said: "If thou dost not for thyself take thought in time, yet we
cannot suffer this to happen, that the race of Eurysthenes should become
extinct. Do thou therefore put away from thee the wife whom thou now
hast, since, as thou knowest, she bears thee no children, and marry
another: and in doing so thou wilt please the Spartans." He made answer
saying that he would do neither of these two things, and that they did
not give him honourable counsel, in that they advised him to send away
the wife whom he had, though she had done him no wrong, and to take to
his house another; and in short he would not follow their advice.

40. Upon this the Ephors and the Senators deliberated together and
proposed to Anaxandrides as follows: "Since then we perceive that thou
art firmly attached to the wife whom thou now hast, consent to do this,
and set not thyself against it, lest the Spartans take some counsel
about thee other than might be wished. We do not ask of thee the putting
away of the wife whom thou hast; but do thou give to her all that
thou givest now and at the same time take to thy house another wife in
addition to this one, to bear thee children." When they spoke to him
after this manner, Anaxandrides consented, having two wives, a thing
which was not by any means after the Spartan fashion.

41. Then when no long time had elapsed, the wife who had come in
afterwards bore this Cleomenes of whom we spoke; and just when she was
bringing to the light an heir to the kingdom of the Spartans, the former
wife, who had during the time before been childless, then by some means
conceived, chancing to do so just at that time: and though she was in
truth with child, the kinsfolk of the wife who had come in afterwards,
when they heard of it cried out against her and said that she was making
a vain boast, and that she meant to pass off another child as her own.
Since then they made a great show of indignation, as the time was fast
drawing near, the Ephors being incredulous sat round and watched the
woman during the birth of her child: and she bore Dorieos and then
straightway conceived Leonidas and after him at once Cleombrotos,--nay,
some even say that Cleombrotos and Leonidas were twins. The wife however
who had born Cleomenes and had come in after the first wife, being
the daughter of Primetades the son of Demarmenos, did not bear a child
again.

42. Now Cleomenes, it is said, was not quite in his right senses but on
the verge of madness, 24 while Dorieos was of all his equals in age
the first, and felt assured that he would obtain the kingdom by merit.
Seeing then that he had this opinion, when Anaxandrides died and the
Lacedemonians followed the usual custom established the eldest, namely
Cleomenes, upon the throne, Dorieos being indignant and not thinking it
fit that he should be a subject of Cleomenes, asked the Spartans to give
him a company of followers and led them out to found a colony, without
either inquiring of the Oracle at Delphi to what land he should go to
make a settlement, or doing any of the things which are usually
done; but being vexed he sailed away with his ships to Libya, and the
Theraians were his guides thither. Then having come to Kinyps 25 he made
a settlement in the fairest spot of all Libya, along the banks of the
river; but afterwards in the third year he was driven out from thence
by the Macai and the Libyans 26 and the Carthaginians, and returned to
Peloponnesus.

43. Then Antichares a man of Eleon gave him counsel out of the oracles
of Laïos to make a settlement at Heracleia 27 in Sicily, saying that the
whole land of Eryx belonged to the Heracleidai, since Heracles himself
had won it: and hearing this he went forthwith to Delphi to inquire of
the Oracle whether he would be able to conquer the land to which he was
setting forth; and the Pythian prophetess replied to him that he would
conquer it. Dorieos therefore took with him the armament which he
conducted before to Libya, and voyaged along the coast of Italy. 28

44. Now at this time, the men of Sybaris say that they and their king
Telys were about to make an expedition against Croton, and the men of
Croton being exceedingly alarmed asked Dorieos to help them and obtained
their request. So Dorieos joined them in an expedition against Sybaris
and helped them to conquer Sybaris. This is what the men of Sybaris say
of the doings of Dorieos and his followers; but those of Croton say that
no stranger helped them in the war against the Sybarites except Callias
alone, a diviner of Elis and one of the descendants of Iamos, and he in
the following manner:--he ran away, they say, from Telys the despot of
the Sybarites, when the sacrifices did not prove favourable, as he was
sacrificing for the expedition against Croton, and so he came to them.

45. Such, I say, are the tales which these tell, and they severally
produce as evidence of them the following facts:--the Sybarites point
to a sacred enclosure and temple by the side of the dried-up bed of
the Crathis, 29 which they say that Dorieos, after he had joined in the
capture of the city, set up to Athene surnamed "of the Crathis"; and
besides they consider the death of Dorieos himself to be a very strong
evidence, thinking that he perished because he acted contrary to the
oracle which was given to him; for if he had not done anything by the
way but had continued to do that for which he was sent, he would have
conquered the land of Eryx and having conquered it would have become
possessor of it, and he and his army would not have perished. On the
other hand the men of Croton declare that many things were granted in
the territory of Croton as special gifts to Callias the Eleisan, of
which the descendants of Callias were still in possession down to my
time, and that nothing was granted to Dorieos or the descendants of
Dorieos: but if Dorieos had in fact helped them in the way with Sybaris,
many times as much, they say, would have been given to him as to
Callias. These then are the evidences which the two sides produce, and
we may assent to whichever of them we think credible.

46. Now there sailed with Dorieos others also of the Spartans, to be
joint-founders with him of the colony, namely Thessalos and Paraibates
and Keleas and Euryleon; and these when they had reached Sicily with all
their armament, were slain, being defeated in battle by the Phenicians
and the men of Egesta; and Euryleon only of the joint-founders survived
this disaster. This man then having collected the survivors of the
expedition, took possession of Minoa the colony of Selinus, and he
helped to free the men of Selinus from their despot Peithagoras.
Afterwards, when he had deposed him, he laid hands himself upon the
despotism in Selinus and became sole ruler there, though but for a short
time; for the men of Selinus rose in revolt against him and slew
him, notwithstanding that he had fled for refuge to the altar of Zeus
Agoraios. 30

47. There had accompanied Dorieos also and died with him Philip the
son of Butakides, a man of Croton, who having betrothed himself to the
daughter of Telys the Sybarite, became an exile from Croton; and then
being disappointed of this marriage he sailed away to Kyrene, whence
he set forth and accompanied Dorieos with a trireme of his own, himself
supplying the expenses of the crew. Now this man had been a victor at
the Olympic games, and he was the most beautiful of the Hellenes who
lived in his time; and on account of his beauty he obtained from the
men of Egesta that which none else ever obtained from them, for they
established a hero-temple over his tomb, and they propitiate him still
with sacrifices.

48. In this manner Dorieos ended his life: but if he had endured to be a
subject of Cleomenes and had remained in Sparta, he would have been king
of Lacedemon; for Cleomenes reigned no very long time, and died leaving
no son to succeed him but a daughter only, whose name was Gorgo.

49. However, Aristagoras the despot of Miletos arrived at Sparta while
Cleomenes was reigning: and accordingly with him he came to speech,
having, as the Lacedemonians say, a tablet of bronze, on which was
engraved a map 31 of the whole Earth, with all the sea and all the
rivers. And when he came to speech with Cleomenes he said to him as
follows: "Marvel not, Cleomenes, at my earnestness in coming hither, for
the case is this.--That the sons of the Ionians should be slaves instead
of free is a reproach and a grief most of all indeed to ourselves, but
of all others most to you, inasmuch as ye are the leaders of Hellas. Now
therefore I entreat you by the gods of Hellas to rescue from slavery the
Ionians, who are your own kinsmen: and ye may easily achieve this, for
the Barbarians are not valiant in fight, whereas ye have attained to the
highest point of valour in that which relates to war: and their fighting
is of this fashion, namely with bows and arrows and a short spear, and
they go into battle wearing trousers and with caps 32 on their heads.
Thus they are easily conquered. Then again they who occupy that
continent have good things in such quantity as not all the other nations
of the world together possess; first gold, then silver and bronze and
embroidered garments and beasts of burden and slaves; all which ye might
have for yourselves, if ye so desired. And the nations moreover dwell
in such order one after the other as I shall declare:--the Ionians here;
and next to them the Lydians, who not only dwell in a fertile land, but
are also exceedingly rich in gold and silver," 33--and as he said this
he pointed to the map of the Earth, which he carried with him engraved
upon the tablet,--"and here next to the Lydians," continued Aristagoras,
"are the Eastern Phrygians, who have both the greatest number of sheep
and cattle 34 of any people that I know, and also the most abundant
crops. Next to the Phrygians are the Cappadokians, whom we call Syrians;
and bordering upon them are the Kilikians, coming down to this 35 sea,
in which lies the island of Cyprus here; and these pay five hundred
talents to the king for their yearly tribute. Next to these Kilikians
are the Armenians, whom thou mayest see here, and these also have great
numbers of sheep and cattle. Next to the Armenians are the Matienians
occupying this country here; and next to them is the land of Kissia
here, in which land by the banks of this river Choaspes is situated that
city of Susa where the great king has his residence, and where the money
is laid up in treasuries. After ye have taken this city ye may then with
good courage enter into a contest with Zeus in the matter of wealth.
Nay, but can it be that ye feel yourselves bound to take upon you the
risk of 36 battles against Messenians and Arcadians and Argives, who are
equally matched against you, for the sake of land which is not much in
extent nor very fertile, and for confines which are but small, though
these peoples have neither gold nor silver at all, for the sake of which
desire incites one to fight and to die,--can this be, I say, and will
ye choose some other way now, when it is possible for you easily to have
the rule over all Asia?" Aristagoras spoke thus, and Cleomenes answered
him saying: "Guest-friend from Miletos, I defer my answer to thee until
the day after to-morrow." 37

50. Thus far then they advanced at that time; and when the appointed
day arrived for the answer, and they had come to the place agreed upon,
Cleomenes asked Aristagoras how many days' journey it was from the sea
of the Ionians to the residence of the king. Now Aristagoras, who in
other respects acted cleverly and imposed upon him well, in this point
made a mistake: for whereas he ought not to have told him the truth, at
least if he desired to bring the Spartans out to Asia, he said in fact
that it was a journey up from the sea of three months: and the other
cutting short the rest of the account which Aristagoras had begun to
give of the way, said: "Guest-friend from Miletos, get thee away from
Sparta before the sun has set; for thou speakest a word which sounds not
well in the ears of the Lacedemonians, desiring to take them a journey
of three months from the sea."

51. Cleomenes accordingly having so said went away to his house:
but Aristagoras took the suppliant's branch and went to the house of
Cleomenes; and having entered in as a suppliant, he bade Cleomenes send
away the child and listen to him; for the daughter of Cleomenes was
standing by him, whose name was Gorgo, and this as it chanced was his
only child, being of the age now of eight or nine years. Cleomenes
however bade him say that which he desired to say, and not to stop on
account of the child. Then Aristagoras proceeded to promise him money,
beginning with ten talents, if he would accomplish for him that for
which he was asking; and when Cleomenes refused, Aristagoras went on
increasing the sums of money offered, until at last he had promised
fifty talents, and at that moment the child cried out: "Father, the
stranger will do thee hurt, 38 if thou do not leave him and go."
Cleomenes, then, pleased by the counsel of the child, departed into
another room, and Aristagoras went away from Sparta altogether, and had
no opportunity of explaining any further about the way up from the sea
to the residence of the king.

52. As regards this road the truth is as follows.--Everywhere there are
royal stages 39 and excellent resting-places, and the whole road runs
through country which is inhabited and safe. Through Lydia and Phrygia
there extend twenty stages, amounting to ninety-four and a half leagues;
40 and after Phrygia succeeds the river Halys, at which there is a gate
4001 which one must needs pass through in order to cross the river, and
a strong guard-post is established there. Then after crossing over into
Cappadokia it is twenty-eight stages, being a hundred and four leagues,
by this way to the borders of Kilikia; and on the borders of the
Kilikians you will pass through two several gates and go by two several
guard-posts: then after passing through these it is three stages,
amounting to fifteen and a half leagues, to journey through Kilikia;
and the boundary of Kilikia and Armenia is a navigable river called
Euphrates. In Armenia the number of stages with resting-places is
fifteen, and of leagues fifty-six and a half, and there is a guard-post
on the way: then from Armenia, when one enters the land of Matiene, 41
there are thirty-four stages, amounting to a hundred and thirty-seven
leagues; and through this land flow four navigable rivers, which cannot
be crossed but by ferries, first the Tigris, then a second and third
called both by the same name, 42 though they are not the same river nor
do they flow from the same region (for the first-mentioned of them flows
from the Armenian land and the other 43 from that of the Matienians),
and the fourth of the rivers is called Gyndes, the same which once Cyrus
divided into three hundred and sixty channels. 44 Passing thence into
the Kissian land, there are eleven stages, forty-two and a half leagues,
to the river Choaspes, which is also a navigable stream; and upon this
is built the city of Susa. The number of these stages amounts in all to
one hundred and eleven.

53. This is the number of stages with resting-places, as one goes up
from Sardis to Susa: and if the royal road has been rightly measured as
regards leagues, and if the league 45 is equal to thirty furlongs, 46
(as undoubtedly it is), the number of furlongs from Sardis to that which
is called the palace of Memnon is thirteen thousand five hundred, the
number of leagues being four hundred and fifty. So if one travels a
hundred and fifty furlongs each day, just ninety days are spent on the
journey. 47

54. Thus the Milesian Aristagoras, when he told Cleomenes the
Lacedemonian that the journey up from the sea to the residence of the
king was one of three months, spoke correctly: but if any one demands
a more exact statement yet than this, I will give him that also: for we
ought to reckon in addition to this the length of the road from Ephesos
to Sardis; and I say accordingly that the whole number of furlongs from
the sea of Hellas to Susa (for by that name the city of Memnon is known)
is fourteen thousand and forty; for the number of furlongs from Ephesos
to Sardis is five hundred and forty: thus the three months' journey is
lengthened by three days added.

55. Aristagoras then being driven out of Sparta proceeded to Athens;
which had been set free from the rule of despots in the way which I
shall tell.--When Hipparchos the son of Peisistratos and brother of the
despot Hippias, after seeing a vision of a dream which signified it to
him plainly, 48 had been slain by Aristogeiton and Harmodios, who were
originally by descent Gephyraians, the Athenians continued for
four years after this to be despotically governed no less than
formerly,--nay, even more.

56. Now the vision of a dream which Hipparchos had was this:--in the
night before the Panathenaia it seemed to Hipparchos that a man came
and stood by him, tall and of fair form, and riddling spoke to him these
verses:


 "With enduring soul as a lion endure unendurable evil:
  No one of men who doth wrong shall escape from the judgment appointed."

These verses, as soon as it was day, he publicly communicated to the
interpreters of dreams; but afterwards he put away thought of the vision
49 and began to take part in that procession during which he lost his
life.

57. Now the Gephyraians, of whom were those who murdered Hipparchos,
according to their own account were originally descended from Eretria;
but as I find by carrying inquiries back, they were Phenicians of those
who came with Cadmos to the land which is now called Boeotia, and they
dwelt in the district of Tanagra, which they had had allotted to them
in that land. Then after the Cadmeians had first been driven out by the
Argives, these Gephyraians next were driven out by the Boeotians and
turned then towards Athens: and the Athenians received them on certain
fixed conditions to be citizens of their State, laying down rules that
they should be excluded from a number of things not worth mentioning
here.

58. Now these Phenicians who came with Cadmos, of whom were the
Gephyraians, brought in among the Hellenes many arts when they settled
in this land of Boeotia, and especially letters, which did not exist, as
it appears to me, among the Hellenes before this time; and at first they
brought in those which are used by the Phenician race generally, but
afterwards, as time went on, they changed with their speech the form of
the letters also. During this time the Ionians were the race of Hellenes
who dwelt near them in most of the places where they were; and these,
having received letters by instruction of the Phenicians, changed their
form slightly and so made use of them, and in doing so they declared
them to be called "phenicians," as was just, seeing that the Phenicians
had introduced them into Hellas. Also the Ionians from ancient time call
paper "skins," because formerly, paper being scarce, they used skins of
goat and sheep; nay, even in my own time many of the Barbarians write on
such skins.

59. I myself too once saw Cadmeian characters in the temple of Ismenian
Apollo at Thebes of the Boeotians, engraved on certain 4901 tripods, and
in most respects resembling the Ionic letters: one of these tripods has
the inscription,


 "Me Amphitryon offered from land Teleboian returning:" 50
 this inscription would be of an age contemporary  with Laïos
 the son of Labdacos, the son of Polydoros, the son of Cadmos.

60. Another tripod says thus in hexameter rhythm:


 "Me did Scaios offer to thee, far-darting Apollo,
  Victor in contest of boxing, a gift most fair in thine honour:"

now Scaios would be the son of Hippocoön (at least if it were really he
who offered it, and not another with  the same name as the son of
Hippocoön), being of an age contemporary with OEdipus the son of Laïos:

61. and the third tripod, also in hexameter rhythm, says:


 "Me Laodamas offered to thee, fair-aiming Apollo,
  He, of his wealth, 51 being king, as a gift most fair in thine honor:"

now it was in the reign of this very Laodamas the son of Eteocles that
the Cadmeians were driven out by the Argives and turned to go to the
Enchelians; and the Gephyraians being then left behind were afterwards
forced by the Boeotians to retire to Athens. Moreover they have temples
established in Athens, in which the other Athenians have no part, and
besides others which are different from the rest, there is especially a
temple of Demeter Achaia and a celebration of her mysteries.

62. I have told now of the vision of a dream seen by Hipparchos, and
also whence the Gephrynians were descended, of which race were the
murderers of Hipparchos; and in addition to this I must resume and
continue the story which I was about to tell at first, how the Athenians
were freed from despots. When Hippias was despot and was dealing harshly
with the Athenians because of the death of Hipparchos, the Alcmaionidai,
who were of Athenian race and were fugitives from the sons of
Peisistratos, 52 as they did not succeed in their attempt made together
with the other Athenian exiles to return by force, but met with great
disaster when they attempted to return and set Athens free, after they
had fortified Leipsydrion which is above Paionia,--these Alomaionidai
after that, still devising every means against the sons of Peisistratos,
accepted the contract to build and complete the temple at Delphi, that
namely which now exists but then did not as yet: and being wealthy and
men of repute already from ancient time, they completed the temple in
a manner more beautiful than the plan required, and especially in this
respect, that having agreed to make the temple of common limestone, 53
they built the front parts of it in Parian marble.

63. So then, as the Athenians say, these men being settled at Delphi
persuaded the Pythian prophetess by gifts of money, that whenever men of
the Spartans should come to inquire of the Oracle, either privately
or publicly sent, she should propose to them to set Athens free. The
Lacedemonians therefore, since the same utterance was delivered to them
on all occasions, sent Anchimolios the son of Aster, who was of repute
among their citizens, with an army to drive out the sons of Peisistratos
from Athens, although these were very closely connected with them by
guest-friendship; for they held that the concerns of the god 5301 should
be preferred to those of men: and this force they sent by sea in ships.
He therefore, having put in to shore at Phaleron, disembarked his army;
but the sons of Peisistratos being informed of this beforehand called
in to their aid an auxiliary force from Thessaly, for they had made an
alliance with the Thessalians; and the Thessalians at their request
sent by public resolution a body of a thousand horse and also their king
Kineas, a man of Conion. 54 So having obtained these as allies, the sons
of Peisistratos contrived as follows:--they cut down the trees in the
plain of Phaleron and made this district fit for horsemen to ride over,
and after that they sent the cavalry to attack the enemy's camp,
who falling upon it slew (besides many others of the Lacedemonians)
Anchimolios himself also: and the survivors of them they shut up in
their ships. Such was the issue of the first expedition from Lacedemon:
and the burial-place of Anchimolios is at Alopecai in Attica, near the
temple of Heracles which is at Kynosarges.

64. After this the Lacedemonians equipped a larger expedition and sent
it forth against Athens; and they appointed to be commander of the army
their king Cleomenes the son of Anaxandrides, and sent it this time
not by sea but by land. With these, when they had invaded the land of
Attica, first the Thessalian horse engaged battle; and in no long time
they were routed and there fell of them more than forty men; so the
survivors departed without more ado and went straight back to Thessaly.
Then Cleomenes came to the city together with those of the Athenians
who desired to be free, and began to besiege the despots shut up in the
Pelasgian wall.

65. And the Lacedemonians would never have captured the sons of
Peisistratos at all; for they on their side had no design to make a long
blockade, and the others were well provided with food and drink; so that
they would have gone away back to Sparta after besieging them for a few
days only: but as it was, a thing happened just at this time which was
unfortunate for those, and at the same time of assistance to these;
for the children of the sons of Peisistratos were captured, while being
secretly removed out of the country: and when this happened, all their
matters were thereby cast into confusion, and they surrendered receiving
back their children on the terms which the Athenians desired, namely
that they should depart out of Attica within five days. After this they
departed out of the country and went to Sigeion on the Scamander, after
their family had ruled over the Athenians for six-and-thirty years.
These also were originally Pylians and sons of Neleus, descended from
the same ancestors as the family of Codros and Melanthos, who had
formerly become kings of Athens being settlers from abroad. Hence too
Hippocrates had given to his son the name of Peisistratos as a memorial,
calling him after Peisistratos the son of Nestor.

Thus the Athenians were freed from despots; and the things worthy to be
narrated which they did or suffered after they were liberated, up to the
time when Ionia revolted from Dareios and Aristagoras the Milesian
came to Athens and asked them to help him, these I will set forth first
before I proceed further.

66. Athens, which even before that time was great, then, after having
been freed from despots, became gradually yet greater; and in it two men
exercised power, namely Cleisthenes a descendant of Alcmaion, the same
who is reported to have bribed the Pythian prophetess, and Isagoras,
the son of Tisander, of a family which was highly reputed, but of his
original descent I am not able to declare; his kinsmen however offer
sacrifices to the Carian Zeus. These men came to party strife for power;
and then Cleisthenes was being worsted in the struggle, he made common
cause with the people. After this he caused the Athenians to be in ten
tribes, who were formerly in four; and he changed the names by which
they were called after the sons of Ion, namely Geleon, Aigicoreus,
Argades, and Hoples, and invented for them names taken from other
heroes, all native Athenians except Ajax, whom he added as a neighbour
and ally, although he was no Athenian.

67. Now in these things it seems to me that this Cleisthenes was
imitating his mother's father Cleisthenes the despot of Sikyon: for
Cleisthenes when he went to war with Argos first caused to cease in
Sikyon the contests of rhapsodists, which were concerned with the
poems of Homer, because Argives and Argos are celebrated in them almost
everywhere; then secondly, since there was (as still there is) in the
market-place itself of the Sikyonians a hero-temple of Adrastos the son
of Talaos, Cleisthenes had a desire to cast him forth out of the land,
because he was an Argive. So having come to Delphi he consulted the
Oracle as to whether he should cast out Adrastos; and the Pythian
prophetess answered him saying that Adrastos was king of the Sikyonians,
whereas he was a stoner 55 of them. So since the god did not permit him
to do this, he went away home and considered means by which Adrastos
should be brought to depart of his own accord: and when he thought that
he had discovered them, he sent to Thebes in Boeotia and said that he
desired to introduce into his city Melanippos the son of Astacos, and
the Thebans gave him leave. So Cleisthenes introduced Melanippos into
his city, and appointed for him a sacred enclosure within the precincts
of the City Hall 56 itself, and established him there in the strongest
position. Now Cleisthenes introduced Melanippos (for I must relate this
also) because he was the greatest enemy of Adrastos, seeing that he had
killed both his brother Mekisteus and his son-in-law Tydeus: and when he
had appointed the sacred enclosure for him, he took away the sacrifices
and festivals of Adrastos and gave them to Melanippos. Now the
Sikyonians were accustomed to honour Adrastos with very great honours;
for this land was formerly the land of Polybos, and Adrastos was
daughter's son to Polybos, and Polybos dying without sons gave his
kingdom to Adrastos: the Sikyonians then not only gave other honours
to Adrastos, but also with reference to his sufferings they specially
honoured him with tragic choruses, not paying the honour to Dionysos but
to Adrastos. Cleisthenes however gave back the choruses to Dionysos, and
the other rites besides this he gave to Melannipos.

68. Thus he had done to Adrastos; and he also changed the names of the
Dorian tribes, in order that the Sikyonians might not have the same
tribes as the Argives; in which matter he showed great contempt of the
Sikyonians, for the names he gave were taken from the names of a pig
and an ass by changing only the endings, except in the case of his own
tribe, to which he gave a name from his own rule. These last then were
called Archelaoi, 57 while of the rest those of one tribe were called
Hyatai, 58 of another Oneatai, 59 and of the remaining tribe Choireatai.
60 These names of tribes were used by the men of Sikyon not only in the
reign of Cleisthenes, but also beyond that for sixty years after his
death; then however they considered the matter and changed them into
Hylleis, Pamphyloi, and Dymanatai, adding to these a fourth, to which
they gave the name Aigialeis after Aigialeus the son of Adrastos.

69. Thus had the Cleisthenes of Sikyon done: and the Athenian
Cleisthenes, who was his daughter's son and was called after him,
despising, as I suppose, the Ionians, as he the Dorians, imitated his
namesake Cleisthenes in order that the Athenians might not have the same
tribes as the Ionians: for when at the time of which we speak he added
to his own party the whole body of the common people of the Athenians,
which in former time he had despised, 61 he changed the names of the
tribes and made them more in number than they had been; he made in fact
ten rulers of tribes instead of four, and by tens also he distributed
the demes in the tribes; and having added the common people to his party
he was much superior to his opponents.

70. Then Isagoras, as he was being worsted in his turn, contrived a
plan in opposition to him, that is to say, he called in Cleomenes the
Lacedemonian to help him, who had been a guest-friend to himself since
the siege of the sons of Peisistratos; moreover Cleomenes was accused
of being intimate with the wife of Isagoras. First then Cleomenes sent
a herald to Athens demanding the expulsion of Cleisthenes and with him
many others of the Athenians, calling them the men who were under the
curse: 62 this message he sent by instruction of Isagoras, for the
Alcmaionidai and their party were accused of the murder to which
reference was thus made, while he and his friends had no part in it.

71. Now the men of the Athenians who were "under the curse" got this
name as follows:--there was one Kylon among the Athenians, a man who
had gained the victory at the Olympic games: this man behaved with
arrogance, wishing to make himself despot; and having formed for himself
an association of men of his own age, he endeavoured to seize the
Acropolis: but not being able to get possession of it, he sat down as a
suppliant before the image of the goddess. 63 These men were taken from
their place as suppliants by the presidents of the naucraries, who then
administered affairs at Athens, on the condition that they should be
liable to any penalty short of death; and the Alcmaionidai are accused
of having put them to death. This had occurred before the time of
Peisistratos.

72. Now when Cleomenes sent demanding the expulsion of Cleisthenes and
of those under the curse, Cleisthenes himself retired secretly; but
after that nevertheless Cleomenes appeared in Athens with no very
large force, and having arrived he proceeded to expel as accursed seven
hundred Athenian families, of which Isagoras had suggested to him the
names. Having done this he next endeavoured to dissolve the Senate, and
he put the offices of the State into the hands of three hundred, who
were the partisans of Isagoras. The Senate however making opposition,
and not being willing to submit, Cleomenes with Isagoras and his
partisans seized the Acropolis. Then the rest of the Athenians joined
together by common consent and besieged them for two days; and on the
third day so many of them as were Lacedemonians departed out of the
country under a truce. Thus was accomplished for Cleomenes the ominous
saying which was uttered to him: for when he had ascended the Acropolis
with the design of taking possession of it, he was going to the
sanctuary of the goddess, as to address her in prayer; but the priestess
stood up from her seat before he had passed through the door, and said,
"Lacedemonian stranger, go back and enter not into the temple, for it is
not lawful for Dorians to pass in hither." He said: "Woman, I am not
a Dorian, but an Achaian." So then, paying no attention to the ominous
speech, he made his attempt and then was expelled again with the
Lacedemonians; but the rest of the men the Athenians laid in bonds to
be put to death, and among them Timesitheos the Delphian, with regard to
whom I might mention very great deeds of strength and courage which he
performed.

73. These then having been thus laid in bonds were put to death; and the
Athenians after this sent for Cleisthenes to return, and also for the
seven hundred families which had been driven out by Cleomenes: and
then they sent envoys to Sardis, desiring to make an alliance with
the Persians; for they were well assured that the Lacedemonians and
Cleomenes had been utterly made their foes. So when these envoys had
arrived at Sardis and were saying that which they had been commanded
to say, Artaphrenes the son of Hystaspes, the governor of Sardis, asked
what men these were who requested to be allies of the Persians, and
where upon the earth they dwelt; and having heard this from the envoys,
he summed up his answer to them thus, saying that if the Athenians
were willing to give earth and water to Dareios, he was willing to make
alliance with them, but if not, he bade them begone: and the envoys
taking the matter upon themselves said that they were willing to do so,
because they desired to make the alliance.

74. These, when they returned to their own land, were highly censured:
and Cleomenes meanwhile, conceiving that he had been outrageously dealt
with by the Athenians both with words and with deeds, was gathering
together an army from the whole of the Peloponnese, not declaring the
purpose for which he was gathering it, but desiring to take vengeance on
the people of the Athenians, and intending to make Isagoras despot; for
he too had come out of the Acropolis together with Cleomenes. Cleomenes
then with a large army entered Eleusis, while at the same time the
Boeotians by agreement with him captured Oinoe and Hysiai, the demes
which lay upon the extreme borders of Attica, and the Chalkidians on the
other side invaded and began to ravage various districts of Attica. The
Athenians then, though attacked on more sides than one, thought that
they would remember the Boeotians and Chalkidians afterwards, and
arrayed themselves against the Peloponnesians who were in Eleusis.

75. Then as the armies were just about the join battle, the Corinthians
first, considering with themselves that they were not acting rightly,
changed their minds and departed; and after that Demaratos the son of
Ariston did the same, who was king of the Spartans as well as Cleomenes,
though he had joined with him in leading the army out from Lacedemon and
had not been before this at variance with Cleomenes. In consequence
of this dissension a law was laid down at Sparta that it should not be
permitted, when an army went out, that both the kings should go with
it, for up to this time both used to go with it, and that as one of the
kings was set free from service, so one of the sons of Tyndareus 64
also should be left behind; for before this time both of these two were
called upon by them for help and went with the armies.

76. At this time then in Eleusis the rest of the allies, seeing that the
kings of the Lacedemonians did not agree and also that the Corinthians
had deserted their place in the ranks, themselves too departed and got
them away quickly. And this was the fourth time that the Dorians had
come to Attica, twice having invaded it to make war against it, and
twice to help the mass of the Athenian people,--first when they at the
same time colonised Megara (this expedition may rightly be designated as
taking place when Codros was king of the Athenians), for the second and
third times when they came making expeditions from Sparta to drive out
the sons of Peisistratos, and fourthly on this occasion, when Cleomenes
at the head of the Peloponnesians invaded Eleusis: thus the Dorians
invaded Athens then for the fourth time.

77. This army then having been ingloriously broken up, the Athenians
after that, desiring to avenge themselves, made expedition first against
the Chalkidians; and the Boeotians came to the Euripos to help the
Chalkidians. The Athenians, therefore, seeing those who had come
to help, 6401 resolved first to attack the Boeotians before the
Chalkidians. Accordingly they engaged battle with the Boeotians, and
had much the better of them, and after having slain very many they
took seven hundred of them captive. On this very same day the Athenians
passed over into Euboea and engaged battle with the Chalkidians as well;
and having conquered these also, they left four thousand holders of
allotments in the land belonging to the "Breeders of Horses": 65 now the
wealthier of the Chalkidians were called the Breeders of Horses. And
as many of them as they took captive, they kept in confinement together
with the Boeotians who had been captured, bound with fetters; and then
after a time they let them go, having fixed their ransom at two pounds
of silver apiece: 66 but their fetters, in which they had been bound,
they hung up on the Acropolis; and these were still existing even to my
time hanging on walls which had been scorched with fire by the Mede, 67
and just opposite the sanctuary which lies towards the West. The tenth
part of the ransom also they dedicated for an offering, and made of it a
four-horse chariot of bronze, which stands on the left hand as you enter
the Propylaia in the Acropolis, and on it is the following inscription:


 "Matched in the deeds of war with the tribes of Boeotia and Chalkis
    The sons of Athens prevailed, conquered and tamed them in fight:
  In chains of iron and darkness they quenched their insolent spirit;
    And to Athene present these, of their ransom a tithe."

78. The Athenians accordingly increased in power; and it is evident, not
by one instance only but in every way, that Equality 68 is an excellent
thing, since the Athenians while they were ruled by despots were not
better in war that any of those who dwelt about them, whereas after they
had got rid of despots they became far the first. This proves that when
they were kept down they were wilfully slack, because they were working
for a master, whereas when they had been set free each one was eager to
achieve something for himself.

79. These then were faring thus: and the Thebans after this sent to the
god, desiring to be avenged on the Athenians; the Pythian prophetess
however said that vengeance was not possible for them by their own
strength alone, but bade them report the matter to the "many-voiced"
and ask help of those who were "nearest" to them. So when those who were
sent to consult the Oracle returned, they made a general assembly and
reported the oracle; and then the Thebans heard them say that they were
to ask help of those who were nearest to them, they said: "Surely
those who dwell nearest to us are the men of Tanagra and Coroneia and
Thespiai; and these always fight zealously on our side and endure the
war with us to the end: what need is there that we ask of these? Rather
perhaps that is not the meaning of the oracle."

80. While they commented upon it thus, at length one perceived "that
which the oracle means to tell us. Asopos is said to have had two
daughters born to him, Thebe and Egina; and as these are sisters, I
think that the god gave us for answer that we should ask the men of
Egina to become our helpers." Then as there seemed to be no opinion
expressed which was better than this, they sent forthwith and asked
the men of Egina to help them, calling upon them in accordance with the
oracle; and they, when these made request, said that they sent with them
the sons of Aiacos to help them.

81. After that the Thebans, having made an attempt with the alliance
of the sons of Aiacos and having been roughly handled by the Athenians,
sent again and gave them back the sons of Aiacos and asked them for men.
So the Eginetans, exalted by great prosperity and calling to mind an
ancient grudge against the Athenians, then on the request of the Thebans
commenced a war against the Athenians without notice: for while the
Athenians were intent on the Boeotians, they sailed against them to
Attica with ships of war, and they devastated Phaleron and also many
demes in the remainder of the coast region, and so doing they deeply
stirred the resentment of the Athenians. 69

82. Now the grudge which was due beforehand from the Eginetans to the
Athenians came about from a beginning which was as follows:--The land
of the Epidaurians yielded to its inhabitants no fruit; and accordingly
with reference to this calamity the Epidaurians went to inquire at
Delphi, and the Pythian prophetess bade them set up images of Damia and
Auxesia, and said that when they had set up these, they would meet with
better fortune. The Epidaurians then asked further whether they should
make images of bronze or of stone; and the prophetess bade them not use
either of these, but make them of the wood of a cultivated olive-tree.
The Epidaurians therefore asked the Athenians to allow them to cut for
themselves an olive-tree, since they thought that their olives were the
most sacred; nay some say that at that time there were no olives in any
part of the earth except at Athens. The Athenians said that they would
allow them on condition that they should every year bring due offerings
to Athene Polias 70 and to Erechtheus. The Epidaurians, then, having
agreed to these terms, obtained that which they asked, and they made
images out of these olive-trees and set them up: and their land bore
fruit and they continued to fulfil towards the Athenians that which they
had agreed to do.

83. Now during this time and also before this the Eginetans were subject
to the Epidaurians, and besides other things they were wont to pass over
to Epidauros to have their disputes with one another settled by law: 71
but after this time they built for themselves ships and made revolt
from the Epidaurians, moved thereto by wilfulness. So as they were at
variance with them, they continued to inflict damage on them, since in
fact they had command of the sea, and especially they stole away from
them these images of Damia and Auxesia, and they brought them and set
them up in the inland part of their country at a place called Oia, which
is about twenty furlongs distant from their city. Having set them up
in this spot they worshipped them with sacrifices and choruses of women
accompanied with scurrilous jesting, ten men being appointed for each of
the deities to provide the choruses: and the choruses spoke evil of no
man, but only of the women of the place. Now the Epidaurians also had
the same rites; and they have also rites which may not be divulged.

84. These images then having been stolen, the Epidaurians no longer
continued to fulfil towards the Athenians that which they had agreed.
The Athenians accordingly sent and expressed displeasure to the
Epidaurians; and they declared saying that they were doing no wrong; for
during the time when they had the images in their country they continued
to fulfil that which they had agreed upon, but since they had been
deprived of them, it was not just that they should make the offerings
any more; and they bade them demand these from the men of Egina, who had
the images. So the Athenians sent to Egina and demanded the images back;
but the Eginetans said that they had nothing to do with the Athenians.

85. The Athenians then report that in one single trireme were despatched
those of their citizens who were sent by the State after this demand;
who having come to Egina, attempted to tear up from off their pedestals
the images, (alleging that they were made of wood which belonged to the
Athenians), in order to carry them back with them: but not being able
to get hold of them in this manner (say the Athenians) they threw ropes
round them and were pulling them, when suddenly, as they pulled, thunder
came on and an earthquake at the same time with the thunder; and the
crew of the trireme who were pulling were made beside themselves by
these, and being brought to this condition they killed one another as if
they were enemies, until at last but one of the whole number was left;
and he returned alone to Phaleron.

86. Thus the Athenians report that it came to pass: but the Eginetans
say that it was not with a single ship that the Athenians came; for
a single ship, and even a few more than one, they could have easily
repelled, even if they had not happened to have ships of their own: but
they say that the Athenians sailed upon their country with a large fleet
of ships, and they gave way before them and did not fight a sea-battle.
They cannot however declare with certainty whether they gave way thus
because they admitted that they were not strong enough to fight the
battle by sea, or because they intended to do something of the kind
which they actually did. The Athenians then, they say, as no one met
them in fight, landed from their ships and made for the images; but
not being able to tear them up from their pedestals, at last they threw
ropes round them and began to pull, until the images, as they were being
pulled, did both the same thing (and here they report something which
I cannot believe, but some other man may), for they say that the images
fell upon their knees to them and that they continue to be in that
position ever since this time. The Athenians, they say, were doing thus;
and meanwhile they themselves (say the Eginetans), being informed that
the Athenians were about to make an expedition against them, got the
Argives to help them; and just when the Athenians had disembarked upon
the Eginetan land, the Argives had come to their rescue, and not having
been perceived when they passed over from Epidauros to the island, they
fell upon the Athenians before these had heard anything of the matter,
cutting them off secretly from the way to their ships; and at this
moment it was that the thunder and the earthquake came upon them.

87. This is the report which is given by the Argives and Eginetans both,
and it is admitted by the Athenians also that but one alone of them
survived and came back to Attica: only the Argives say that this one
remained alive from destruction wrought by them upon the army of
Athens, while the Athenians say that the divine power was the destroyer.
However, even this one man did not remain alive, but perished, they say,
in the following manner:--when he returned to Athens he reported the
calamity which had happened; and the wives of the men who had gone on
the expedition to Egina, hearing it and being very indignant that he
alone of all had survived, came round this man and proceeded to stab him
with the brooches of their mantles, each one of them asking of him where
her husband was. Thus he was slain; and to the Athenians it seemed
that the deed of the women was a much more terrible thing even than
the calamity which had happened; and not knowing, it is said, how they
should punish the women in any other way, they changed their fashion of
dress to that of Ionia,--for before this the women of the Athenians wore
Dorian dress, very like that of Corinth,--they changed it therefore to
the linen tunic, in order that they might not have use for brooches.

88. In truth however this fashion of dress is not Ionian originally but
Carian, for the old Hellenic fashion of dress for women was universally
the same as that which we now call Dorian. Moreover it is said that with
reference to these events the Argives and Eginetans made it a custom
among themselves in both countries 72 to have the brooches made half
as large again as the size which was then established in use, and that
their women should offer brooches especially in the temple of these
goddesses, 73 and also that they should carry neither pottery of Athens
nor anything else of Athenian make to the temple, but that it should be
the custom for the future to drink there from pitchers made in the lands
themselves.

89. The women of the Argives and Eginetans from this time onwards
because of the quarrel with the Athenians continued to wear brooches
larger than before, and still do so even to my time; and the origin of
the enmity of the Athenians towards the Eginetans came in the manner
which has been said. So at this time, when the Thebans invaded them, the
Eginetans readily came to the assistance of the Boeotians, calling to
mind what occurred about the images. The Eginetans then were laying
waste, as I have said, the coast regions of Attica; and when the
Athenians were resolved to make an expedition against the Eginetans,
an oracle came to them from Delphi bidding them stay for thirty years
reckoned from the time of the wrong done by the Eginetans, and in the
one-and-thirtieth year to appoint a sacred enclosure for Aiacos and then
to begin the war against the Eginetans, and they would succeed as they
desired; but if they should make an expedition against them at once,
they would suffer in the meantime very much evil and also inflict very
much, but at last they would subdue them. When the Athenians heard the
report of this, they appointed a sacred enclosure for Aiacos, namely
that which is now established close to the market-place, but they could
not endure to hear that they must stay for thirty years, when they had
suffered injuries from the Eginetans.

90. While however they were preparing to take vengeance, a matter arose
from the Lacedemonians which provided a hindrance to them: for the
Lacedemonians, having learnt that which had been contrived by the
Alcmaionidai with respect to the Pythian prophetess, and that which had
been contrived by the Pythian prophetess against themselves and the sons
of Peisistratos, were doubly grieved, not only because they had driven
out into exile men who were their guest-friends, but also because after
they had done this no gratitude was shown to them by the Athenians.
Moreover in addition to this, they were urged on by the oracles which
said that many injuries would be suffered by them from the Athenians;
of which oracles they had not been aware of before, but they had come to
know them, since Cleomenes had brought them to Sparta. In fact Cleomenes
had obtained from the Acropolis of the Athenians those oracles which the
sons of Peisistratos possessed before and had left in the temple when
they were driven out; and Cleomenes recovered them after they had been
left behind.

91. At this time, then, when the Lacedemonians had recovered the oracles
and when they saw that the Athenians were increasing in power and were
not at all willing to submit to them, observing that the Athenian race
now that it was free was becoming 74 a match for their own, whereas when
held down by despots it was weak and ready to be ruled,--perceiving, I
say, all these things, they sent for Hippias the son of Peisistratos to
come from Sigeion on the Hellespont, whither the family of Peisistratos
go for refuge; 75 and when Hippias had come upon the summons, the
Spartans sent also for envoys to come from their other allies and spoke
to them as follows: "Allies, we are conscious within ourselves that we
have not acted rightly; for incited by counterfeit oracles we drove out
into exile men who were very closely united with us as guest-friends and
who undertook the task of rendering Athens submissive to us, and then
after having done this we delivered over the State to a thankless
populace, which so soon as it had raised its head, having been freed by
our means drove out us and our king with wanton outrage; and now exalted
with pride 76 it is increasing in power, so that the neighbours of these
men first of all, that is the Boeotians and Chalkidians, have already
learnt, and perhaps some others also will afterwards learn, that they
committed an error. 7601 As however we erred in doing those things of
which we have spoken, we will try now to take vengeance on them, going
thither together with you; 77 since it was for this very purpose that we
sent for Hippias, whom ye see here, and for you also, to come from your
cities, in order that with common counsel and a common force we might
conduct him to Athens and render back to him that which we formerly took
away."

92. Thus they spoke; but the majority of the allies did not approve of
their words. The rest however kept silence, but the Corinthian Socles 78
spoke as follows: (a) "Surely now the heaven shall be below the earth,
and the earth raised up on high above the heaven, and men shall have
their dwelling in the sea, and fishes shall have that habitation which
men had before, seeing that ye, Lacedemonians, are doing away with free
governments 79 and are preparing to bring back despotism again into our
cities, than which there is no more unjust or more murderous thing
among men. For if in truth this seems to you to be good, namely that
the cities should be ruled by despots, do ye yourselves first set up a
despot in your own State, and then endeavour to establish them also for
others: but as it is, ye are acting unfairly towards your allies, seeing
that ye have had no experience of despots yourselves and provide with
the greatest care at Sparta that this may never come to pass. If
however ye had had experience of it, as we have had, ye would be able
to contribute juster opinions of it than at present. (b) For the
established order of the Corinthian State was this:--the government was
an oligarchy, and the oligarchs, who were called Bacchiadai, had control
over the State and made marriages among themselves. 80 Now one of these
men, named Amphion, had a daughter born to him who was lame, and her
name was Labda. This daughter, since none of the Bacchiadai wished to
marry her, was taken to wife by Aëtion the son of Echecrates, who was of
the deme of Petra, but by original descent a Lapith and of the race of
Caineus. Neither from this wife nor from another were children born to
him, therefore he set out to Delphi to inquire about offspring; and as
he entered, forthwith the prophetess addressed him in these lines:


  "'Much to be honoured art thou, yet none doth render thee honour. 81
  Labda conceives, and a rolling rock will she bear, which shall ruin
  Down on the heads of the kings, and with chastisement visit Corinthos.'

This answer given to Aëtion was by some means reported to the
Bacchiadai, to whom the oracle which had come to Corinth before this was
not intelligible, an oracle which had reference to the same thing as
that of Aëtion and said thus:


 "'An eagle conceives in the rocks 82 and shall bear a ravening lion,
  Strong and fierce to devour, who the knees of many shall loosen.
  Ponder this well in your minds, I bid you, Corinthians, whose dwelling
  Lies about fair Peirene's spring and in craggy Corinthos.' 83

(c) This oracle, I say, having come before to the Bacchiadai was
obscure; but afterwards when they heard that which had come to Aëtion,
forthwith they understood the former also, that it was in accord with
that of Aëtion; and understanding this one also they kept quiet,
desiring to destroy the offspring which should be born to Aëtion. Then,
so soon as his wife bore a child, they sent ten of their own number to
the deme in which Aëtion had his dwelling, to slay the child; and when
these had come to Petra and had passed into the court of Aëtion's house,
they asked for the child; and Labda, not knowing anything of the purpose
for which they had come, and supposing them to be asking for the child
on account of friendly feeling towards its father, brought it and placed
it in the hands of one of them. Now they, it seems, had resolved by the
way that the first of them who received the child should dash it upon
the ground. However, when Labda brought and gave it, it happened by
divine providence that the child smiled at the man who had received it;
and when he perceived this, a feeling of compassion prevented him from
killing it, and having this compassion he delivered it to the next man,
and he to the third. Thus it passed through the hands of all the ten,
delivered from one to another, since none of them could bring himself to
destroy its life. So they gave the child back to its mother and went
out; and then standing by the doors they abused and found fault with one
another, laying blame especially on the one who had first received the
child, because he had not done according to that which had been
resolved; until at last after some time they determined again to enter
and all to take a share in the murder. (d) From the offspring of Aëtion
however it was destined that evils should spring up for Corinth: for
Labda was listening to all this as she stood close by the door, and
fearing lest they should change their mind and take the child a second
time and kill it, she carried it and concealed it in the place which
seemed to her the least likely to be discovered, that is to say a
corn-chest, 84 feeling sure that if they should return and come to a
search, they were likely to examine everything: and this in fact
happened. So when they had come, and searching had failed to find it,
they thought it best to return and say to those who had sent them that
they had done all that which they had been charged by them to do. (e)
They then having departed said this; and after this the son of Aëtion
grew, and because he had escaped this danger, the name of Kypselos was
given him as a surname derived from the corn-chest. Then when Kypselos
had grown to manhood and was seeking divination, a two-edged 85 answer
was given him at Delphi, placing trust in which he made an attempt upon
Corinth and obtained possession of it. Now the answer was as follows:


 "'Happy is this man's lot of a truth, who enters my dwelling,
  Offspring of Aëtion, he shall rule in famous Corinthos,
  Kypselos, he and his sons, but his children's children no longer.'

Such was the oracle: and Kypselos when he became despot was a man of
this character,--many of the Corinthians he drove into exile, many he
deprived of their wealth, and very many more of their lives. (f) And
when he had reigned for thirty years and had brought his life to a
prosperous end, his son Periander became his successor in the despotism.
Now Periander at first was milder than his father; but after he had had
dealings through messengers with Thrasybulos the despot of Miletos, he
became far more murderous even than Kypselos. For he sent a messenger to
Thrasybulos and asked what settlement of affairs was the safest for him
to make, in order that he might best govern his State: and Thrasybulos
led forth the messenger who had come from Periander out of the city, and
entered into a field of growing corn; and as he passed through the crop
of corn, while inquiring and asking questions repeatedly 86 of the
messenger about the occasion of his coming from Corinth, he kept cutting
off the heads of those ears of corn which he saw higher than the rest;
and as he cut off their heads he cast them away, until he had destroyed
in this manner the finest and richest part of the crop. So having passed
through the place and having suggested no word of counsel, he dismissed
the messenger. When the messenger returned to Corinth, Periander was
anxious to hear the counsel which had been given; but he said that
Thrasybulos had given him no counsel, and added that he wondered at the
deed of Periander in sending him to such a man, for the man was out of
his senses and a waster of his own goods,--relating at the same time
that which he had seen Thrasybulos do. (g) So Periander, understanding
that which had been done and perceiving that Thrasybulos counselled him
to put to death those who were eminent among his subjects, began then to
display all manner of evil treatment to the citizens of the State; for
whatsoever Kypselos had left undone in killing and driving into exile,
this Periander completed. And in one day he stripped all the wives of
the Corinthians of their clothing on account of his own wife Melissa.
For when he had sent messengers to the Thesprotians on the river Acheron
to ask the Oracle of the dead about a deposit made with him by a
guest-friend, Melissa appeared and said she would not tell in what place
the deposit was laid, for she was cold and had no clothes, since those
which he had buried with her were of no use to her, not having been
burnt; and this, she said, would be an evidence to him that she was
speaking the truth, namely that when the oven was cold, Periander had
put his loaves into it. When the report of this was brought back to
Periander, the token made him believe, because he had had commerce with
Melissa after she was dead; and straightway after receiving the message
he caused proclamation to be made that all the wives of the Corinthians
should come out to the temple of Hera. They accordingly went as to a
festival in their fairest adornment; and he having set the spearmen of
his guard in ambush, stripped them all alike, both the free women and
their attendant; and having gathered together all their clothes in a
place dug out, he set fire to them, praying at the same time to Melissa.
Then after he had done this and had sent a second time, the apparition
of Melissa told him in what spot he had laid the deposit entrusted to
him by his guest-friend.

"Such a thing, ye must know, Lacedemonians, is despotism, and such are
its deeds: and we Corinthians marvelled much at first when we saw that
ye were sending for Hippias, and now we marvel even more because ye say
these things; and we adjure you, calling upon the gods of Hellas, not
to establish despotisms in the cities. If however ye will not cease from
your design, but endeavour to restore Hippias contrary to that which is
just, know that the Corinthians at least do not give their consent to
that which ye do."

93. Socles being the envoy of Corinth thus spoke, and Hippias made
answer to him, calling to witness the same gods as he, that assuredly
the Corinthians would more than all others regret the loss of the sons
of Peisistratos, when the appointed days should have come for them to
be troubled by the Athenians. Thus Hippias made answer, being acquainted
with the oracles more exactly than any other man: but the rest of the
allies, who for a time had restrained themselves and kept silence, when
they heard Socles speak freely, gave utterance every one of them to
that which they felt, and adopted the opinion of the Corinthian envoy,
adjuring the Lacedemonians not to do any violence to a city of Hellas.

94. Thus was this brought to an end: and Hippias being dismissed from
thence had Anthemus offered to him by Amyntas king of the Macedonians
and Iolcos by the Thessalians. He however accepted neither of these, but
retired again to Sigeion; which city Peisistratos had taken by force
of arms from the Mytilenians, and having got possession of it, had
appointed his own natural son Hegesistratos, born of an Argive woman, to
be despot of it: he however did not without a struggle keep possession
of that which he received from Peisistratos; for the Mytilenians and
Athenians carried on war for a long time, having their strongholds
respectively at Achilleion and at Sigeion, the one side demanding that
the place be restored to them, and the Athenians on the other hand not
admitting this demand, but proving by argument that the Aiolians had
no better claim to the territory of Ilion than they and the rest of the
Hellenes, as many as joined with Menelaos in exacting vengeance for the
rape of Helen.

95. Now while these carried on the war, besides many other things of
various kinds which occurred in the battles, once when a fight took
place and the Athenians were conquering, Alcaios the poet, taking to
flight, escaped indeed himself, but the Athenians retained possession of
his arms and hung them up on the walls of the temple of Athene which
is at Sigeion. About this matter Alcaios composed a song and sent it to
Mytilene, reporting therein his misadventure to one Melanippos, who was
his friend. Finally Periander the son of Kypselos made peace between the
Athenians and the Mytilenians, 87 for to him they referred the matter
as arbitrator; and he made peace between them on the condition that each
should continue to occupy that territory which they then possessed.

96. Sigeion then in this matter had come under the rule of the
Athenians. And when Hippias had returned to Asia from Lacedemon, he
set everything in motion, stirring up enmity between the Athenians and
Artaphrenes, and using every means to secure that Athens should come
under the rule of himself and of Dareios. Hippias, I say, was thus
engaged; and the Athenians meanwhile hearing of these things sent envoys
to Sardis, and endeavoured to prevent the Persians from following the
suggestions of the exiled Athenians. Artaphrenes however commanded
them, if they desired to be preserved from ruin, to receive Hippias back
again. This proposal the Athenians were not by any means disposed to
accept when it was reported; and as they did not accept this, it became
at once a commonly received opinion among them that they were enemies of
the Persians.

97. While they had these thoughts and had been set at enmity with the
Persians, at this very time Aristagoras the Milesian, ordered away from
Sparta by Cleomenes the Lacedemonian, arrived at Athens; for this
was the city which had most power of all the rest besides Sparta. And
Aristagoras came forward before the assembly of the people and said the
same things as he had said at Sparta about the wealth which there was in
Asia, and about the Persian manner of making war, how they used neither
shield nor spear and were easy to overcome. Thus I say he said, and
also he added this, namely that the Milesians were colonists from the
Athenians, and that it was reasonable that the Athenians should rescue
them, since they had such great power; and there was nothing which he
did not promise, being very urgent in his request, until at last he
persuaded them: for it would seem that it is easier to deceive many than
one, seeing that, though he did not prove able to deceive Cleomenes the
Lacedemonian by himself, yet he did this to thirty thousand Athenians.
The Athenians then, I say, being persuaded, voted a resolution to
despatch twenty ships to help the Ionians, and appointed to command them
Melanthios one of their citizens, who was in all things highly reputed.
These ships proved to be the beginning of evils for the Hellenes and the
Barbarians.

98. Aristagoras however sailed on before and came to Miletos; and then
having devised a plan from which no advantage was likely to come for the
Ionians (nor indeed was he doing what he did with a view to that, but
in order to vex king Dareios), he sent a man to Phrygia to the Paionians
who had been taken captive by Megabazos from the river Strymon, and who
were dwelling in a district and village of Phrygia apart by themselves;
and when the messenger came to the Paionians he spoke these words:
"Paionians, Aristagoras the despot of Miletos sent me to offer to you
salvation, if ye shall be willing to do as he says; for now all Ionia
has revolted from the king and ye have an opportunity of coming safe to
your own land: to reach the sea shall be your concern, and after this it
shall be thenceforth ours." The Paionians hearing this received it as
a most welcome proposal, and taking with them their children and their
women they began a flight to the sea; some of them however were struck
with fear and remained in the place where they were. Having come to the
coast the Paionians crossed over thence to Chios, and when they were
already in Chios there arrived in their track a large body of Persian
horsemen pursuing the Paionians. These, as they did not overtake them,
sent over to Chios to bid the Paionians return back: the Paionians
however did not accept their proposal, but the men of Chios conveyed
them from Chios to Lesbos, and the Lesbians brought them to Doriscos,
and thence they proceeded by land and came to Paionia.

99. Aristagoras meanwhile, when the Athenians had arrived with twenty
ships, bringing with them also five triremes of the Eretrians, joined
the expedition not for the sake of the Athenians but of the Milesians
themselves, to repay them a debt which they owed (for the Milesians in
former times had borne with the Eretrians the burden of all that war
which they had with the Chalkidians at the time when the Chalkidians
on their side were helped by the Samians against the Eretrians and
Milesians),--when these, I say, had arrived and the other allies were
on the spot, Aristagoras proceeded to make a march upon Sardis. On
this march he did not go himself, but remained at Miletos and appointed
others to be in command of the Milesians, namely his brother Charopinos
and of the other citizens one Hermophantos. 8701

100. With this force then the Ionians came to Ephesos, and leaving their
ships at Coresos in the land of Ephesos, went up themselves in a large
body, taking Ephesians to guide them in their march. So they marched
along by the river Caÿster, and then when they arrived after crossing
the range of Tmolos, they took Sardis without any resistance, all except
the citadel, but the citadel Artaphrenes himself saved from capture,
having with him a considerable force of men.

101. From plundering this city after they had taken it they were
prevented by this:--the houses in Sardis were mostly built of reeds,
and even those of them which were of brick had their roofs thatched with
reeds: of these houses one was set on fire by a soldier, and forthwith
the fire going on from house to house began to spread over the whole
town. So then as the town was on fire, the Lydians and all the Persians
who were in the city being cut off from escape, since the fire was
prevailing in the extremities round about them, and not having any way
out of the town, flowed together to the market-place and to the river
Pactolos, which brings down gold-dust for them from Tmolos, flowing
through the middle of their market-place, and then runs out into the
river Hermos, and this into the sea;--to this Pactolos, I say, and to
the market-place the Lydians and Persians gathered themselves together,
and were compelled to defend themselves. The Ionians then, seeing some
of the enemy standing on their defence and others in great numbers
coming on to the attack, were struck with fear and retired to the
mountain called Tmolos, and after that at nightfall departed to go to
their ships.

102. Sardis was then destroyed by fire, and in it also the temple of the
native goddess Hybebe; which the Persians alleged afterwards as a reason
for setting on fire in return the temples in the land of the Hellenes.
However at the time of which I speak the Persians who occupied districts
within the river Halys, informed beforehand of this movement, were
gathering together and coming to the help of the Lydians; and, as it
chanced, they found when they came that the Ionians no longer were in
Sardis; but they followed closely in their track and came up with them
at Ephesos: and the Ionians stood indeed against them in array, but
when they joined battle they had very much the worse; and besides other
persons of note whom the Persians slaughtered, there fell also Eualkides
commander of the Eretrians, a man who had won wreaths in contests of
the games and who was much celebrated by Simonides of Keos: and those of
them who survived the battle dispersed to their various cities.

103. Thus then they fought at that time; and after the battle the
Athenians left the Ionians together, and when Aristagoras was urgent
in calling upon them by messengers for assistance, they said that
they would not help them: the Ionians, however, though deprived of the
alliance of the Athenians, none the less continued to prepare for the
war with the king, so great had been the offences already committed by
them against Dareios. They sailed moreover to the Hellespont and brought
under their power Byzantion and all the other cities which are in those
parts; and then having sailed forth out of the Hellespont, they gained
in addition the most part of Caria to be in alliance with them: for even
Caunos, which before was not willing to be their ally, then, after they
had burnt Sardis, was added to them also.

104. The Cyprians too, excepting those of Amathus, were added
voluntarily to their alliance; for these also had revolted from the
Medes in the following manner:--there was one Onesilos, younger brother
of Gorgos king of Salamis, and son of Chersis, the son of Siromos, the
son of Euelthon. This man in former times too had been wont often to
advise Gorgos to make revolt from the king, and at this time, when
he heard that the Ionians had revolted, he pressed him very hard and
endeavoured to urge him to it. Since however he could not persuade
Gorgos, Onesilos watched for a time when he had gone forth out of the
city of Salamis, and then together with the men of his own faction he
shut him out of the gates. Gorgos accordingly being robbed of the city
went for refuge to the Medes, and Onesilos was ruler of Salamis and
endeavoured to persuade all the men of Cyprus to join him in revolt. The
others then he persuaded; but since those of Amathus were not willing to
do as he desired, he sat down before their city and besieged it.

105. Onesilos then was besieging Amathus; and meanwhile, when it was
reported to king Dareios that Sardis had been captured and burnt by the
Athenians and the Ionians together, and that the leader of the league
for being about these things 88 was the Milesian Aristagoras, it is said
that at first being informed of this he made no account of the Ionians,
because he knew that they at all events would not escape unpunished for
their revolt, but he inquired into who the Athenians were; and when
he had been informed, he asked for his bow, and having received it
and placed an arrow upon the string, he discharged it upwards towards
heaven, and as he shot into the air he said: "Zeus, that it may be
granted me to take vengeance upon the Athenians!" Having so said he
charged one of his attendants, that when dinner was set before the king
he should say always three times: "Master, remember the Athenians."

106. When he had given this charge, he called into his presence
Histiaios the Milesian, whom Dareios had now been keeping with him for a
long time, and said: "I am informed, Histiaios, that thy deputy, to whom
thou didst depute the government of Miletos, has made rebellion against
me; for he brought in men against me from the other continent and
persuaded the Ionians also,--who shall pay the penalty to me for that
which they did,--these, I say, he persuaded to go together with them,
and thus he robbed me of Sardis. Now therefore how thinkest thou that
this is well? and how without thy counsels was anything of this kind
done? Take heed lest thou afterwards find reason to blame thyself for
this." Histiaios replied: "O king, what manner of speech is this that
thou hast uttered, saying that I counselled a matter from which it was
likely that any vexation would grow for thee, either great or small?
What have I to seek for in addition to that which I have, that I should
do these things; and of what am I in want? for I have everything that
thou hast, and I am thought worthy by thee to hear all thy counsels.
Nay, but if my deputy is indeed acting in any such manner as thou
hast said, be assured that he has done it merely on his own account. I
however, for my part, do not even admit the report to be true, that the
Milesians and my deputy are acting in any rebellious fashion against thy
power: but if it prove that they are indeed doing anything of that kind,
and if that which thou hast heard, O king, be the truth, learn then what
a thing thou didst in removing me away from the sea-coast; for it seems
that the Ionians, when I had gone out of the sight of their eyes, did
that which they had long had a desire to do; whereas if I had been in
Ionia, not a city would have made the least movement. Now therefore as
quickly as possible let me set forth to go to Ionia, that I may order
all these matters for thee as they were before, and deliver into thy
hands this deputy of Miletos who contrived these things: and when I have
done this after thy mind, I swear by the gods of the royal house that I
will not put off from me the tunic which I wear when I go down to Ionia,
until I have made Sardinia tributary to thee, which is the largest of
all islands."

107. Thus saying Histiaios endeavoured to deceive the king, and
Dareios was persuaded and let him go, charging him, when he should have
accomplished that which he had promised, to return to him again at Susa.

108. In the meantime, while the news about Sardis was going up to the
king, and while Dareios, after doing that which he did with the bow,
came to speech with Histiaios, and Histiaios having been let go by
Dareios was making his journey to the sea-coast,--during all that time
the events were happening which here follow.--As Onesilos of Salamis
was besieging those of Amathus, it was reported to him that Artybios
a Persian, bringing with him in ships a large Persian army, was to be
expected shortly to arrive in Cyprus. Being informed of this, Onesilos
sent heralds to different places in Ionia to summon the Ionians to his
assistance; and they took counsel together and came without delay with a
large force. Now the Ionians arrived in Cyprus just at the time when the
Persians having crossed over in ships from Kilikia were proceeding by
land to attack Salamis, while the Phenicians with the ships were sailing
round the headland which is called the "Keys of Cyprus."

109. This being the case, the despots of Cyprus called together the
commanders of the Ionians and said: "Ionians, we of Cyprus give you
a choice which enemy ye will rather fight with, the Persians or the
Phenicians: for if ye will rather array yourselves on land and make
trial of the Persians in fight, it is time now for you to disembark from
your ships and array yourselves on the land, and for us to embark in
your ships to contend against the Phenicians; but if on the other hand
ye will rather make trial of the Phenicians,--whichever of these two ye
shall choose, ye must endeavour that, so far as it rests with you, both
Ionia and Cyprus shall be free." To this the Ionians replied: "We were
sent out by the common authority of the Ionians to guard the sea, and
not to deliver our ships to the Cyprians and ourselves fight with the
Persians on land. We therefore will endeavour to do good service in that
place to which we were appointed; and ye must call to mind all the evils
which ye suffered from the Medes, when ye were in slavery to them, and
prove yourselves good men."

110. The Ionians made answer in these words; and afterwards, when the
Persians had come to the plain of Salamis, the kings of the Cyprians set
in order their array, choosing the best part of the troops of Salamis
and of Soloi to be arrayed against the Persians and setting the other
Cyprians against the rest of the enemy's troops; and against Artybios,
the commander of the Persians, Onesilos took up his place in the array
by his own free choice.

111. Now Artybios was riding a horse which had been trained to rear
up against a hoplite. Onesilos accordingly being informed of this, and
having a shield-bearer, by race of Caria, who was of very good repute
as a soldier and full of courage besides, 89 said to this man: "I am
informed that the horse of Artybios rears upright and works both with
his feet and his mouth against any whom he is brought to attack. Do thou
therefore consider the matter, and tell me forthwith which of the two
thou wilt rather watch for and strike, the horse or Artybios himself."
To this his attendant replied: "O king, I am ready to do both or either
of these two things, and in every case to do that which thou shalt
appoint for me; but I will declare to thee the way in which I think it
will be most suitable 90 for thy condition. I say that it is right for
one who is king and commander to fight with a king and commander; for if
thou shalt slay the commander of the enemy, it turns to great glory for
thee; and again, if he shall slay thee, which heaven forbid, even death
when it is at the hands of a worthy foe is but half to be lamented: but
for us who are under thy command it is suitable to fight with the others
who are under his command and with his horse: and of the tricks of the
horse have thou no fear at all, for I engage to thee that after this
at least he shall never stand against any man more." Thus he spoke; and
shortly afterwards the opposed forces joined battle both on land and
with their ships.

112. On that day the Ionians for their part greatly distinguished
themselves and overcame the Phenicians, and of them the Samians were
best: and meanwhile on land, when the armies met, they came to close
quarters and fought; and as regards the two commanders, what happened
was this:--when Artybios came to fight with Onesilos sitting upon his
horse, Onesilos, as he had concerted with his shield-bearer, struck at
Artybios himself, when he came to fight with him; and when the horse put
its hoofs against the shield of Onesilos, then the Carian struck with a
falchion 91 and smote off the horse's feet.

113. So Artybios the commander of the Persians fell there on the spot
together with his horse: and while the others also were fighting,
Stesenor the despot of Curion deserted them, having with him a
large force of men,--now these Curians are said to be settlers
from Argos,--and when the Curians had deserted, forthwith also the
war-chariots of the men of Salamis proceeded to do the same as the
Curians. When these things took place, the Persians had the advantage
over the Cyprians; and after their army had been put to rout, many
others fell and among them Onesilos the son of Chersis, he who brought
about the revolt of the Cyprians, and also the king of the Solians,
Aristokypros the son of Philokypros,--that Philokypros whom Solon the
Athenian, when he came to Cyprus, commended in verse above all other
despots.

114. So the men of Amathus cut off the head of Onesilos, because he had
besieged them; and having brought it to Amathus they hung it over the
gate of the city: and as the head hung there, when it had now become a
hollow, a swarm of bees entered into it and filled it with honeycomb.
This having so come to pass, the Amathusians consulted an Oracle about
the head, and they received an answer bidding them take it down and bury
it and sacrifice to Onesilos every year as a hero; and if they did this,
it would go better with them.

115. The Amathusians accordingly continued to do so even to my time. But
the Ionians who had fought the sea-fight in Cyprus, when they perceived
that the fortunes of Onesilos were ruined and that the cities of the
Cyprians were besieged, except Salamis, and that this city had been
delivered over by the Salaminians to Gorgos the former king,--as soon as
they perceived this, the Ionians sailed away back to Ionia. Now of the
cities in Cyprus Soloi held out for the longest time under the siege;
and the Persians took it in the fifth month by undermining the wall
round.

116. The Cyprians then, after they had made themselves free for one
year, had again been reduced to slavery afresh: and meanwhile Daurises,
who was married to a daughter of Dareios, and Hymaies and Otanes, who
were also Persian commanders and were married also to daughters
of Dareios, after they had pursued those Ionians who had made the
expedition to Sardis and defeating them in battle had driven them
by force to their ships,--after this distributed the cities amongst
themselves and proceeded to sack them.

117. Daurises directed his march to the cities on the Hellespont, and he
took Dardanos and Abydos and Percote and Lampsacos and Paisos, of these
he took on each day one; and as he was marching from Paisos against the
city of Parion, the report came that the Carians had made common cause
with the Ionians and were in revolt from the Persians. He turned back
therefore from the Hellespont and marched his army upon Caria. 118.
And, as it chanced, a report of this was brought to the Carians before
Daurises arrived; and the Carians being informed of it gathered together
at the place which is called the "White Pillars" and at the river
Marsyas, which flows from the region of Idrias and runs out into the
Maiander. When the Carians had been gathered together there, among many
other counsels which were given, the best, as it seems to me, was that
of Pixodaros the son of Mausolos, a man of Kindye, who was married to
the daughter of the king of the Kilikians, Syennesis. The opinion
of this man was to the effect that the Carians should cross over the
Maiander and engage battle with the Persians having the river at their
backs, in order that the Carians, not being able to fly backwards and
being compelled to remain where they were, might prove themselves even
better men in fight than they naturally would. This opinion did not
prevail; but they resolved that the Persians rather than themselves
should have the Maiander at their backs, evidently 92 in order that if
there should be a flight of the Persians and they should be worsted in
the battle, they might never return home, but might fall into the river.

119. After this, when the Persians had come and had crossed the
Maiander, the Carians engaged with the Persians on the river Marsyas and
fought a battle which was obstinately contested and lasted long; but at
length they were worsted by superior numbers: and of the Persians there
fell as many as two thousand, but of the Carians ten thousand. Then
those of them who escaped were shut up in Labraunda 93 within
the sanctuary of Zeus Stratios, which is a large sacred grove of
plane-trees; now the Carians are the only men we know who offer
sacrifices to Zeus Stratios. These men then, being shut up there, were
taking counsel together about their safety, whether they would fare
better if they delivered themselves over to the Persians or if they left
Asia altogether.

120. And while they were thus taking counsel, there came to their aid
the Milesians and their allies. Then the Carians dismissed the plans
which they were before considering and prepared to renew the war again
from the beginning: and when the Persians came to attack them, they
engaged with them and fought a battle, and they were worsted yet more
completely than before; and while many were slain of all parties, 94 the
Milesians suffered most.

121. Then afterwards the Carians repaired this loss and retrieved their
defeat; for being informed that the Persians had set forth to march upon
their cities, they laid an ambush on the road which is by Pedasos, 95
and the Persians falling into it by night were destroyed both they and
their commanders, namely Daurises and Amorges and Sisimakes; and with
them died also Myrsos the son of Gyges. Of this ambush the leader was
Heracleides the son of Ibanollis, a man of Mylasa.

122. These then of the Persians were thus destroyed; and meanwhile
Hymaies, who was another of those who pursued after the Ionians that had
made the expedition to Sardis, directed his march to the Propontis and
took Kios in Mysia; and having conquered this city, when he was informed
that Daurises had left the Hellespont and was marching towards Caria, he
left the Propontis and led his army to the Hellespont: and he conquered
all the Aiolians who occupy the district of Ilion, and also the
Gergithes, who were left behind as a remnant of the ancient Teucrians.
While conquering these tribes Hymaies himself ended his life by sickness
in the land of Troas.

123. He thus brought his life to an end; and Artaphrenes the governor
of the province of Sardis was appointed with Otanes the third of the
commanders to make the expedition against Ionia and that part of Aiolia
which bordered upon it. Of Ionia these took the city of Clazomenai, and
of the Aiolians Kyme.

124. While the cities were thus being taken, Aristagoras the Milesian,
being, as he proved in this instance, not of very distinguished courage,
since after having disturbed Ionia and made preparation of great matters
96 he counselled running away when he saw these things, (moreover it
had become clear to him that it was impossible to overcome king
Dareios),--he, I say, having regard to these things, called together
those of his own party and took counsel with them, saying that it was
better that there should be a refuge prepared for them, in case that
they should after all be driven out from Miletos, and proposing the
question whether he should lead them from thence to Sardinia, to form
a colony there, or to Myrkinos in the land of the Edonians, which
Histiaios had been fortifying, having received it as a gift from
Dareios. This was the question proposed by Aristagoras.

125. Now the opinion of Hecataios the son of Hegesander the historian
97 was that he should not take a colony to either of these places, but
build a wall of defence for himself in the island of Leros and keep
still, if he should be forced to leave Miletos; and afterwards with this
for his starting point he would be able to return to Miletos.

126. This was the counsel of Hecataios; but Aristagoras was most
inclined to go forth to Myrkinos. He therefore entrusted the government
of Miletos to Pythagoras, a man of repute among the citizens, and he
himself sailed away to Thrace, taking with him every one who desired to
go; and he took possession of the region for which he had set out.
But starting from this to make war, he perished by the hands of the
Thracians, that is both Aristagoras himself and his army, when he was
encamped about a certain city and the Thracians desired to go out from
it under a truce.

*****



NOTES TO BOOK V

1 [ {ie paion} (or {paian}), as the burden of a song of triumph.]

2 [ {eggenetai}: many MSS. and some Editors read {en genetai}, "and the
race can never become united."]

3 [ iv. 93.]

301 [ Or "from the time that he was born."]

4 [ {to astikton} is probably for {to me estikhthai}: but possibly the
meaning may be, "those who are not so marked are of low birth."]

5 [ "the greatest prizes are assigned for single combat in proportion"
(as it is more difficult).]

6 [ Or "Siriopaionians."]

7 [ The words "and about the Doberians and Agrianians and Odomantians"
are marked by Stein as an interpolation, on the ground that the two
tribes first mentioned are themselves Paionian; but Doberians are
distinguished from Paionians in vii. 113.]

8 [ {theres katarraktes}: the MSS. have {thures katapaktes} (which can
hardly be right, since the Ionic form would be {katapektes}), meaning
"fastened down." Stein suggests {thures katepaktes} (from {katepago}),
which might mean "a door closed downwards," but the word is not found.
(The Medicean MS. has {e} written over the last {a} of {katapaktes}.)]

9 [ {diapinontes}: or perhaps, "drinking against one another."]

10 [ See viii. 137.]

11 [ i.e. "he was drawn to run in the first pair."]

12 [ The best MSS. give this form throughout, which is also used by
Æschylus: cp. iii. 70, note 60.]

13 [ {ekakothesan}.]

14 [ {toutou}: it is doubtful whether this means his power or his death.
Perhaps something has dropped out after {teleuta}.]

15 [ {anesis}: a conjectural emendation of {aneos}. (Perhaps however,
the word was rather {ananeosis}, "after a short time there was a renewal
of evils"). Grote wishes to translate this clause, "after a short time
there was an abatement of evils," being of opinion that the {anesis
kakon} lasted about eight years. However the expression {ou pollon
khronon} is so loose that it might well cover the required period of
time.]

16 [ {praskhema}.]

17 [ i.e. Miletos and Naxos.]

18 [ {ton pakheon}.]

1801 [ {umin}: omitted in some MSS. and editions.]

19 [ Lit. "dividing him in such a manner."]

20 [ {kai to teikhos esaxanto}: {esaxanto} from {satto}, which generally
means "load." Various conjectures have been made, e.g. {kai to teikhos
ephraxanto}, or {kata takhos esaxanto}, the comma after {pota} being
removed.]

2001 [ {me de neoteron ti poieuses tes Miletou}, "if Miletos made no
change (i.e. rebellion)."]

21 [ {katairetheie}, "taken down" from their place (cp. {anetheke}
below).]

22 [ {en to peoto ton logon}. The reference is to i. 92.]

23 [ {isonomien}: cp. iii. 80.]

24 [ {akromantes}: cp. {akrakholos}. It may mean "somewhat mad," so
{akrozumos}, "slightly leavened," and other words.]

25 [ {Kinupa}: for this Stein reads by conjecture {Aibuen} and
afterwards {para Kinupa potamon} for {para potamon}: but Kinyps was
the name of the district about the river (iv. 198), and the name of the
river is easily supplied from this.]

26 [ {Makeon te kai Libuon}. The Macai were of course Libyans, therefore
perhaps we should read (with Niebuhr) {Makeon te Libuon}: or {Makeon te
kai allon Libuon}.]

27 [ Stein thinks that Heracleia Minoa on the S. coast of Sicily cannot
be meant, because too distant to be considered part of the "land of
Eryx." Evidently however this expression is very vague, and there seems
no need to correct the text as he proposes.]

28 [ {para ten Italion}: the name applied anciently only to the
South-West of the peninsula.]

29 [ {Krathin}, the MSS. give {krastin} here, and {krastie} below for
{Krathie}. Sybaris was situated between the rivers Crathis and Sybaris.]

30 [ i.e. "of the Market-place."]

31 [ {periodos}.]

32 [ {kurbasias}: see vii. 64.]

33 [ {poluargurotatoi}: this seems to include gold also, for which Lydia
was famous.]

34 [ {poluprobatotatoi}.]

35 [ {tende}, pointing to it in the map.]

36 [ If {anaballesthai} is the true reading here, it cannot mean,
"put off to another time," as Stein translates it; for the form of the
sentence proves that it is to be taken as a question, co-ordinate with
that which follows: {peri men khores ara ou polles khreon esti umeas
makhas anaballesthai, parekhon de tes Asies arkhein allo ti airesesthe};
the first clause being in sense subordinate to the second.]

37 [ {es triten emeren}.]

38 [ {diaphthereei se}. It is impossible to reproduce the double meaning
of {diaphtheirein}, "to destroy," and "to corrupt with bribes." The
child was apparently alarmed by the vehement gestures of Aristagoras
and supposed that he was going to kill her father. Cleomenes accepts the
omen.]

39 [ {stathmoi}: "stations," the distance between them averaging here
about 120 stades.]

40 [ {parasaggai}: the "parasang," as estimated at 30 stades, would be
nearly 3½ English miles.]

4001 [ i.e. a narrow pass; so also below in speaking of the passes into
Kilikia.]

41 [ In the MSS. this clause follows the account of the four rivers, and
the distance through Matiene is given as "four stages" with no number of
leagues added. By transposing the clause we avoid placing the rivers
in Armenia instead of Matiene; and by making the number of stages
thirty-four, with a corresponding number of leagues, we make the total
right at the end and give the proper extension to Matiene.]

42 [ i.e. Zabatos: the name has perhaps fallen out of the text.]

43 [ {o d' usteron}: "the one mentioned afterwards." Stein reads {o d'
usteros}.]

44 [ See i. 189.]

45 [ {parasagges}.]

46 [ {stadia}: the stade being equal to 606¾ English feet.]

47 [ Reckoned for the march of an army.]

48 [ Omitting {to eoutou pathei} which stands in the MSS. before
{enargestaten}. If the words are retained, we must translate "which
clearly pointed to his fate."]

49 [ {apeipamenos ten opsin}, which some translate "he made offerings to
avert the dream."]

4901 [ {tisi}: many Editors adopt the conjecture {trisi}, three.]

50 [ {anetheken eon}: various conjectures have been made here, e.g.
{anetheken elon}, {anetheken ion}, {anetheke theo}, {anetheken eont},
{anetheke neon}: the last, which is Bentley's, is perhaps the best; but
it is doubtful whether the active form of the verb is admissible.]

51 [ {autos}: the MSS. have {auton}. If {autos} is right, the meaning is
"from his own property."]

52 [ The expression {Peisistratidai} is used loosely for the family in
general.]

53 [ {porinou lithou}, "tufa."]

5301 [ Or "of God."]

54 [ {Koniaion}. There is no such place as Conion known in Thessaly, but
we cannot correct the text with any certainty.]

55 [ There is perhaps a play of words in {basileus} and {leuster}.]

56 [ {prutaneio}.]

57 [ "Rulers of the people."]

58 [ "Swine-ites."]

59 [ "Ass-ites."]

60 [ "Pig-ites."]

61 [ {proteron aposmenon, tote panta}: most of the MSS. read {panton}
for {panta}. The Editors propose various corrections, e.g. {proteron
apospenon panton, tote k.t.l.}, "which before were excluded from
everything," or {proteron apospenon, tote panton metadidous}, "giving
the people, which before he had despised, a share of all rights": or
{panton} is corrected to {epanion}, "on his from exile," temporary exile
being supposed as the result of the defeat mentioned in ch. 66.]

62 [ {tous enageas}.]

63 [ i.e. of Athene Polias in the Erechtheion.]

64 [ Cp. iv. 145.]

6401 [ {tous boethous}: most of the MSS. have {tous Boiotous}.]

65 [ {ippobotai}.]

66 [ {dimneos apotimesamenoi}.]

67 [ See viii. 53.]

68 [ {isegorin}: probably not "equal freedom of speech," but practically
the same as {isonomie}, ch. 37.]

69 [ Lit. "penetrated the Athenian greatly": most MSS. and Editors read
{esineonto} (or {esinonto}) for {esikneonto}, which is given by the
first hand in at least two good MSS.]

70 [ i.e. "Athene (protectress) of the city," who shared with Erechtheus
the temple on the Acropolis called the "Erechtheion"; see viii. 55.]

71 [ More lit. "to give and receive from one another satisfaction."]

72 [ {eti tode poiesai nomon einai, para sphisi ekateroisi k.t.l.} The
Editors punctuate variously, and alterations have been proposed in the
text.]

73 [ i.e. Damia and Auxesia.]

74 [ {ginoito}: some MSS. read {an ginoito}, "would become": so Stein
and many other Editors.]

75 [ Some Editors omit this clause, "whither--refuge."]

76 [ "having grown a good opinion of itself."]

7601 [ Or, altering {oste} to {os ge} or {osper}, "as the neighbours
of these men first of all, that is the Boeotians and Chalkidians, have
already learnt, and perhaps some others will afterwards learn that they
have committed an error." The word {amarton} would thus be added as an
afterthought, with reference primarily to the Corinthians, see ch. 75.]

77 [ {peiresometha spheas ama umin apikomenoi tisasthai}: some MSS. read
{akeomenoi} and omit {tisasthai}. Hence it has been proposed to read
{peisesometha sphea ama umin akeomenoi}, "we will endeavour to remedy
this with your help," which may be right.]

78 [ So the name is given by the better class of MSS. Others, followed
by most Editors, make it "Sosicles."]

79 [ {isokratias}.]

80 [ Lit. "gave and took (in marriage) from one another."]

81 [ {Eetion, outis se tiei polutiton eonta}: the play upon {Eetion} and
{tio} can hardly be rendered. The "rolling rock" in the next line is an
allusion to Petra, the name of the deme.]

82 [ {aietos en petresi kuei}, with a play upon the names {Eetion}
({Aeton}) and {Petre} again.]

83 [ {ophruoenta}, "situated on a brow or edge," the regular descriptive
epithet of Corinth.]

84 [ {kupselen}: cp. Aristoph. Pax, 631.]

85 [ {amphidexion}: commonly translated "ambiguous," but in fact the
oracle is of the clearest, so much so that Abicht cuts the knot
by inserting {ouk}. Stein explains it to mean "doubly favourable,"
{amphoterothen dexion}. I understand it to mean "two-edged" (cp.
{amphekes}), in the sense that while promising success to Kypselos
and his sons, it prophesies also the deposition of the family in the
generation after, and so acts (or cuts) both ways.]

86 [ {anapodizon}, "calling him back over the same ground again."]

87 [ Evidently the war must be dated earlier than the time of
Peisistratos.]

8701 [ Or (according to some MSS.), "another of the citizens, named
Hermophantos."]

88 [ {tes sulloges oste tauta sunuphanthenai}, "the assembling together
so that these things were woven."]

89 [ {kai allos lematos pleos}.]

90 [ {plospheresteron}, or perhaps {plopheresteron}, "to be preferred";
so one MS.: {plospheres} ordinarily means "like."]

91 [ {drepano}, cp. vii. 93.]

92 [ {delade}, ironical.]

93 [ Or, "Labranda."]

94 [ i.e. Carians, Persians, and Ionians.]

95 [ {en Pedaso}: the MSS. vary between {en Pidaso, epi daso}, and {epi
lasoisi}, and Valla's translation has "in viam quae in Mylassa fert."
Some Editors read {epi Mulasoisi}, others {epi Pedaso}.]

96 [ {egkerasamenos pregmata megala}.]

97 [ {andros logopoiou}





BOOK VI. THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE HISTORIES, CALLED ERATO

1. Aristagoras accordingly, after having caused Ionia to revolt, thus
brought his life to an end; and meanwhile Histiaios the despot of
Miletos, having been let go by Dareios had arrived at Sardis: and when
he came from Susa, Artaphrenes the governor of Sardis asked him for what
reason he supposed the Ionians had revolted; and he said that he could
not tell, and moreover he expressed wonder at that which had happened,
pretending that he knew nothing of the state of affairs. Then
Artaphrenes seeing that he was using dissimulation said, having
knowledge of the truth about the revolt: "Thus it is with thee,
Histiaios, about these matters,--this shoe was stitched by thee, and put
on by Aristagoras.".

2. Thus said Artaphrenes with reference to the revolt; and Histiaios
fearing Artaphrenes because he understood the matter, ran away the
next night at nightfall and went to the sea-coast, having deceived king
Dareios, seeing that he had engaged to subdue Sardinia the largest of
islands, and instead of that he was endeavouring to take upon himself
leadership of the Ionians in the war against Dareios. Then having
crossed over to Chios he was put in bonds by the Chians, being accused
by them of working for a change of their State by suggestion of Dareios.
When however the Chians learnt the whole story and heard that he was an
enemy to the king, they released him..

3. Then Histiaios, being asked by the Ionians for what reason he had so
urgently charged Aristagoras to revolt from the king and had wrought so
great an evil for the Ionians, did not by any means declare to them
that which had been in truth the cause, but reported to them that king
Dareios had resolved to remove the Phenicians from their land and to
settle them in Ionia, and the Ionians in Phenicia; and for this reason,
he said, he had given the charge. Thus he attempted to alarm the
Ionians, although the king had never resolved to do so at all.

4. After this Histiaios acting through a messenger, namely Hermippos
a man of Atarneus, sent papers to the Persians who were at Sardis,
implying that he had already talked matters over with them about a
revolt: and Hermippos did not deliver them to those to whom he was sent,
but bore the papers and put them into the hands of Artaphrenes. He then,
perceiving all that was being done, bade Hermippos bear the papers sent
by Histiaios and deliver them to those to whom he was sent to bear
them, and to deliver to him the replies sent back by the Persians to
Histiaios. These things having been discovered, Artaphrenes upon that
put to death many of the Persians.

5. As regards Sardis therefore there was confusion of the design; and
when Histiaios had been disappointed of this hope, the Chians attempted
to restore him to Miletos at the request of Histiaios himself.
The Milesians, however, who had been rejoiced before to be rid of
Aristagoras, were by no means eager to receive another despot into their
land, seeing that they had tasted of liberty: and in fact Histiaios,
attempting to return to Miletos by force and under cover of night, was
wounded in the thigh by one of the Milesians. He then, being repulsed
from his own city, returned to Chios; and thence, as he could not
persuade the Chians to give him ships, he crossed over to Mytilene and
endeavoured to persuade the Lesbians to give him ships. So they manned
eight triremes and sailed with Histiaios to Byzantion, and stationing
themselves there they captured the ships which sailed out of the Pontus,
excepting where the crews of them said that they were ready to do the
bidding of Histiaios.

6. While Histiaios and the men of Mytilene were acting thus, a large
army both of sea and land forces was threatening to attack Miletos
itself; for the commanders of the Persians had joined together to form
one single army and were marching upon Miletos, considering the other
towns of less account. Of their naval force the most zealous were the
Phenicians, and with them also served the Cyprians, who had just been
subdued, and the Kilikians and Egyptians..

7. These, I say, were advancing upon Miletos and the rest of Ionia; and
meanwhile the Ionians being informed of this were sending deputies 1
chosen from themselves to the Panionion. 2 When these had arrived at
that place and took counsel together, they resolved not to gather a
land-army to oppose the Persians, but that the Milesians should defend
their walls by themselves, and that the Ionians should man their fleet,
leaving out not one of their ships, and having done so should assemble
as soon as possible at Lade, to fight a sea-battle in defence of
Miletos. Now Lade is a small island lying opposite the city of the
Milesians..

8. Then the Ionians manned their ships and came thither, and with them
also those Aiolians who inhabit Lesbos; and they were drawn up in
order thus:--the extremity of the line towards the East was held by the
Milesians themselves, who furnished eighty ships; next to them were
the Prienians with twelve ships and the men of Myus with three; next to
those of Myus were the Teians with seventeen ships, and after the
Teians the Chians with a hundred; after these were stationed the men
of Erythrai and of Phocaia, the former furnishing eight ships and the
latter three; next to the Phocaians were the Lesbians with seventy
ships, and last, holding the extremity of the line towards the West,
were stationed the Samians with sixty ships. Of all these the total
number proved to be three hundred and fifty-three triremes..

9. These were the ships of the Ionians; and of the Barbarians the number
of ships was six hundred. When these too were come to the Milesian coast
and their whole land-army was also there, then the commanders of the
Persians, being informed of the number of the Ionian ships, were struck
with fear lest they should be unable to overcome them, and thus on the
one hand should not be able to conquer Miletos from not having command
of the sea, and at the same time should run a risk of being punished by
Dareios. Reflecting upon these things they gathered together the despots
of the Ionians who were exiles with the Medes, having been deposed from
their governments by Aristagoras the Milesian, and who chanced to be
then joining in the expedition against Miletos,--of these men they
called together those who were present and spoke to them as follows:
"Ionians, now let each one of you show himself a benefactor of the
king's house, that is to say, let each one of you endeavour to detach
his own countrymen from the body of the alliance: and make your
proposals promising at the same time that they shall suffer nothing
unpleasant on account of the revolt, and neither their temples nor their
private houses shall be burnt, nor shall they have any worse treatment
than they had before this; but if they will not do so, but will by all
means enter into a contest with us, threaten them and tell them this,
which in truth shall happen to them, namely that if they are worsted in
the fight they shall be reduced to slavery, and we shall make their sons
eunuchs, and their maidens we shall remove to Bactria, and deliver their
land to others.".

10. They thus spoke; and the despots of Ionia sent each one by night
to his own people announcing to them this. The Ionians however, that
is those to whom these messages came, continued obstinate and would not
accept the thought of treason to their cause; and each people thought
that to them alone the Persians were sending this message.

11. This happened as soon as the Persians came to Miletos; and after
this the Ionians being gathered together at Lade held meetings; and
others no doubt also made speeches to them, but especially the Phocaian
commander Dionysios, who said as follows: "Seeing that our affairs are
set upon the razor's edge, Ionians, whether we shall be free or slaves,
and slaves too to be dealt with as runaways, now therefore if ye shall
be willing to take upon yourselves hardships, ye will have labour for
the time being, but ye will be able to overcome the enemy and be free;
whereas if ye continue to be self-indulgent and without discipline, I
have no hope for you that ye will not pay the penalty to the king for
your revolt. Nay, but do as I say, and deliver yourselves over to me;
and I engage, if the gods grant equal conditions, that either the
enemy will not fight with us, or that fighting he shall be greatly
discomfited.".

12. Hearing this the Ionians delivered themselves to Dionysios; and he
used to bring the ships out every day in single file, 3 that he might
practise the rowers by making the ships break through one another's
line, 4 and that he might get the fighting-men in the ships under arms;
an then for the rest of the day he would keep the ships at anchor; and
thus he gave the Ionians work to do during the whole day. For seven
days then they submitted and did that which he commanded; but on the
day after these the Ionians, being unaccustomed to such toils and
being exhausted with hard work and hot sun, spoke to one another thus:
"Against which of the deities have we offended, that we thus fill up the
measure of evil? for surely we have delivered ourselves to a Phocaian,
an impostor, who furnishes but three ships: and he has taken us into
his hands and maltreats us with evil dealing from which we can never
recover; and many of us in fact have fallen into sicknesses, and many
others, it may be expected, will suffer the same thing shortly; and for
us it is better to endure anything else in the world rather than these
ills, and to undergo the slavery which will come upon us, whatever that
shall be, rather than to be oppressed by that which we have now. Come,
let us not obey him after this any more." So they said, and forthwith
after this every one refused to obey him, and they pitched their tents
in the island like an army, and kept in the shade, and would not go on
board their ships or practise any exercises.

13. Perceiving this which was being done by the Ionians, the commanders
of the Samians then at length accepted from Aiakes the son of Syloson
those proposals which Aiakes sent before at the bidding of the Persians,
asking them to leave the alliance of the Ionians; the Samians, I say,
accepted these proposals, perceiving that there was great want of
discipline on the part of the Ionians, while at the same time it was
clear to them that it was impossible to overcome the power of the king;
and they well knew also that even if they should overcome the present
naval force of Dareios, 5 another would be upon them five times as
large. Having found an occasion 6 then, so soon as they saw that the
Ionians refused to be serviceable, they counted it gain for themselves
to save their temples and their private property. Now Aiakes, from whom
the Samians accepted the proposals, was the son of Syloson, the son of
Aiakes, and being despot of Samos he had been deprived of his rule by
Aristagoras the Milesian, like the other despots of Ionia..

14. So when the Phenicians sailed to the attack, the Ionians also put
out their ships from shore against them, sailing in single file: and
when they came near and engaged battle with one another, as regards what
followed I am not able exactly to record which of the Ionians showed
themselves cowards or good men in this sea-fight, for they throw blame
upon one another. The Samians however, it is said, according to their
agreement with Aiakes put up their sails then and set forth from their
place in the line to sail back to Samos, excepting only eleven ships:
of these the captains stayed in their places and took part in the
sea-fight, refusing to obey the commanders of their division; and the
public authority of the Samians granted them on account of this to have
their names written up on a pillar with their fathers' names also, 601
as having proved themselves good men; and this pillar exists still in
the market-place. Then the Lesbians also, when they saw that those next
them in order were taking to flight, did the same things as the Samians
had done, and so also most of the Ionians did the very same thing..

15. Of those which remained in their places in the sea-fight the Chians
suffered very severely, 7 since they displayed brilliant deeds of valour
and refused to play the coward. These furnished, as was before said,
a hundred ships and in each of them forty picked men of their citizens
served as fighting-men; 8 and when they saw the greater number of their
allies deserting them, they did not think fit to behave like the
cowards among them, but left along with a few only of their allies they
continued to fight and kept breaking through the enemy's line; until at
last, after they had conquered many ships of the enemy, they lost the
greater number of their own..

16. The Chians then with the remainder of their ships fled away to
their own land; but those of the Chians whose ships were disabled by the
damage which they had received, being pursued fled for refuge to Mycale;
and their ships they ran ashore there and left them behind, while the
men proceeded over the mainland on foot: and when the Chians had entered
the Ephesian territory on their way, then since 801 they came into it by
night and at a time when a festival of Thesmophoria was being celebrated
by the women of the place, the Ephesians, not having heard beforehand
how it was with the Chians and seeing that an armed body had entered
their land, supposed certainly that they were robbers and had a design
upon the women; so they came out to the rescue in a body and slew the
Chians.

17. Such was the fortune which befell these men: but Dionysios the
Phocaian, when he perceived that the cause of the Ionians was ruined,
after having taken three ships of the enemy sailed away, not to Phocaia
any more, for he knew well that it would be reduced to slavery together
with the rest of Ionia, and he sailed forthwith straight to Phenicia;
and having there sunk merchant ships and taken a great quantity of
goods, he sailed thence to Sicily. Then with that for his starting-point
he became a freebooter, not plundering any Hellenes, but Carthaginians
and Tyrsenians only.

18. The Persians, then, being conquerors of the Ionians in the
sea-fight, besieged Miletos by land and sea, undermining the walls and
bringing against it all manner of engines; and they took it completely 9
in the sixth year from the revolt of Aristagoras, and reduced the people
to slavery; so that the disaster agreed with the oracle which had been
uttered with reference to Miletos..

19. For when the Argives were inquiring at Delphi about the safety of
their city, there was given to them an oracle which applied to both,
that is to say, part of it had reference to the Argives themselves,
while that which was added afterwards referred to the Milesians. The
part of it which had reference to the Argives I will record when I reach
that place in the history, 10 but that which the Oracle uttered with
reference to the Milesians, who were not there present, is as follows:


 "And at that time, O Miletos, of evil deeds the contriver,
  Thou shalt be made for many a glorious gift and a banquet:
  Then shall thy wives be compelled to wash the feet of the long-haired,
  And in Didyma then my shrine shall be tended by others."

At the time of which I speak these things came upon the Milesians, since
most of the men were killed by the Persians, who are long-haired, and
the women and children were dealt with as slaves; and the temple at
Didyma, with the sacred building and the sanctuary of the Oracle, was
first plundered and then burnt. Of the things in this temple I have made
mention frequently in other parts of the history. 11.

20. After this the Milesians who had been taken prisoner were conducted
to Susa; and king Dareios did to them no other evil, but settled them
upon the Sea called Erythraian, in the city of Ampe, by which the Tigris
flows when it runs out into the sea. Of the Milesian land the Persians
themselves kept the surroundings of the city and the plain, but the
heights they gave to the Carians of Pedasa for a possession.

21. When the Milesians suffered this treatment from the Persians, the
men of Sybaris, who were dwelling in Laos and Skidros, being deprived of
their own city, did not repay like with like: for when Sybaris was taken
by the men of Croton, the Milesians all from youth upwards shaved their
heads and put on great mourning: for these cities were more than all
others of which we know bound together by ties of friendship. Not like
the Sybarites were the Athenians; for these made it clear that they were
grieved at the capture of Miletos, both in many other ways and also by
this, that when Phrynichos had composed a drama called the "Capture of
Miletos" and had put it on the stage, the body of spectators fell to
weeping, and the Athenians moreover fined the poet a thousand drachmas
on the ground that he had reminded them of their own calamities; and
they ordered also that no one in future should represent this drama.

22. Miletos then had been stripped bare of its former inhabitants: but
of the Samians they who had substance were by no means satisfied with
that which had been concerted by the commanders of their fleet with the
Medes; and taking counsel forthwith after the sea-fight it seemed good
to them, before their despot Aiakes arrived in the country, to sail away
and make a colony, and not to stay behind and be slaves of the Medes
and of Aiakes: for just at this time the people of Zancle in Sicily
were sending messengers to Ionia and inviting the Ionians to come to the
"Fair Strand," 1101 desiring there to found a city of Ionians. Now this
which is called the Fair Strand is in the land of the Sikelians and on
that side of Sicily which lies towards Tyrsenia. So when these gave the
invitation, the Samians alone of all the Ionians set forth, having with
them those of the Milesians who had escaped: and in the course of this
matter it happened as follows:--

23. The Samians as they made their way towards Sicily reached Locroi
Epizephyroi, and at the same time the people of Zancle, both themselves
and their king, whose name was Skythes, were encamped about a city
of the Sikelians, desiring to conquer it. Perceiving these things,
Anaxilaos the despot of Rhegion, being then at variance with those of
Zancle, communicated with the Samians and persuaded them that they ought
to leave the Fair Strand alone, to which they were sailing, and take
possession of Zancle instead, since it was left now without men to
defend it. The Samians accordingly did as he said and took possession of
Zancle; and upon this the men of Zancle, being informed that their city
was possessed by an enemy, set out to rescue it, and invited Hippocrates
the despot of Gela to help them, for he was their ally. When however
Hippocrates also with his army had come up to their rescue, first he put
Skythes the ruler of the Zanclaians in fetters, on the ground that he
had been the cause of the city being lost, and together with him his
brother Pythogenes, and sent them away to the town of Incyos; 12 then he
betrayed the cause of the remaining Zanclaians by coming to terms with
the Samians and exchanging oaths with them; and in return for this it
had been promised by the Samians that Hippocrates should receive as his
share the half of all the movable goods in the city and of the slaves,
and the whole of the property in the fields round. So the greater number
of the Zanclaians he put in bonds and kept himself as slaves, but the
chief men of them, three hundred in number, he gave to the Samians to
put to death; which however the Samians did not do.

24. Now Skythes the ruler of the Zanclaians escaped from Incyos to
Himera, and thence he came to Asia and went up to the court of Dareios:
and Dareios accounted him the most righteous of all the men who had come
up to him from Hellas; for he obtained leave of the king and went away
to Sicily, and again came back from Sicily to the king; and at last he
brought his life to an end among the Persians in old age and possessing
great wealth. The Samians then, having got rid of the rule of the Medes,
had gained for themselves without labour the fair city of Zancle.

25. After the sea-battle which was fought for Miletos, the Phenicians by
the command of the Persians restored to Samos Aiakes the son of Syloson,
since he had been to them of much service and had done for them great
things; and the Samians alone of all who revolted from Dareios, because
of the desertion of their ships which were in the sea-fight, 13 had
neither their city nor their temples burnt. Then after the capture of
Miletos the Persians forthwith got possession of Caria, some of the
cities having submitted to their power voluntarily, while others of them
they brought over by force.

26. Thus it came to pass as regards these matters: and meanwhile
Histiaios the Milesian, who was at Byzantion and was seizing the
merchant vessels of the Ionians as they sailed forth out of the Pontus,
received the report of that which had happened about Miletos. Upon that
he entrusted the matters which had to do with the Hellespont to Bisaltes
the son of Apollophanes, a man of Abydos, while he himself with the
Lesbians sailed to Chios; and when a body of the Chians who were on
guard did not allow him to approach, he fought with them at that spot in
the Chian land which is called the "Hollows." 14 Histiaios then not only
slew many of these, but also, taking Polichne of the Chians as his base,
he conquered with the help of the Lesbians the remainder of the Chians
as well, since they had suffered great loss by the sea-fight..

27. And heaven is wont perhaps to give signs beforehand whenever great
evils are about to happen to a city or a race of men; for to the Chians
also before these events remarkable signs had come. In the first place
when they had sent to Delphi a chorus of a hundred youths, two only
returned home, the remaining ninety-eight of them having been seized by
a plague and carried off; and then secondly in their city about the same
time, that is shortly before the sea-fight, as some children were being
taught 15 in school the roof fell in upon them, so that of a hundred
and twenty children only one escaped. These signs God showed to them
beforehand; and after this the sea-fight came upon them and brought
their State down upon its knees; and as the Chians had suffered great
loss, he without difficulty effected the conquest of them.

28. Thence Histiaios made an expedition against Thasos, taking with him
a large force of Ionians and Aiolians; and while he was encamped about
the town of Thasos, a report came to him that the Phenicians were
sailing up from Miletos to conquer the rest of Ionia. Being informed of
this he left Thasos unconquered and himself hastened to Lesbos, taking
with him his whole army. Then, as his army was in want of food, 16 he
crossed over from Lesbos to reap the corn in Atarneus and also that in
the plain of the Caïcos, which belonged to the Mysians. In these parts
there chanced to be a Persian named Harpagos commanding a considerable
force; and this man fought a battle with him after he had landed, and
he took Histiaios himself prisoner and destroyed the greater part of his
army..

29. And Histiaios was taken prisoner in the following manner:--As the
Hellenes were fighting with the Persians at Malene in the district of
Atarneus, after they had been engaged in close combat for a long time,
the cavalry at length charged and fell upon the Hellenes; and the
cavalry in fact decided the battle. 17 So when the Hellenes had been
turned to flight, Histiaios trusting that he would not be put to death
by the king on account of his present fault, conceived a love of life,
so that when he was being caught in his flight by a Persian and was
about to be run through by him in the moment of his capture, he spoke
in Persian and made himself known, saying that he was Histiaios the
Milesian..

30. If then upon being taken prisoner he had been brought to king
Dareios, he would not, as I think, have suffered any harm, but Dareios
would have forgiven the crime with which he was charged; as it was,
however, for this very reason and in order that he might not escape
from punishment and again become powerful with the king, Artaphrenes
the governor of Sardis and Harpagos who had captured him, when he had
reached Sardis on his way to the king, put him to death there and then,
and his body they impaled, but embalmed his head and brought it up to
Dareios at Susa. Dareios having been informed of this, found fault
with those who had done so, because they had not brought him up to his
presence alive; and he bade wash the head of Histiaios and bestow upon
it proper care, and then bury it, as that of one who had been greatly a
benefactor both of the king himself and of the Persians.

31. Thus it happened about Histiaios; and meanwhile the Persian fleet,
after wintering near Miletos, when it put to sea again in the following
year conquered without difficulty the islands lying near the mainland,
Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos; and whenever they took one of the islands,
the Barbarians, as each was conquered, swept the inhabitants off it; 18
and this they do in the following manner:--they extend themselves from
the sea on the North to the sea on the South, each man having hold
of the hand of the next, and then they pass through the whole island
hunting the people out of it. They took also the Ionian cities on the
mainland in the same manner, except that they did not sweep off the
inhabitants thus, for it was not possible..

32. Then the commanders of the Persians proved not false to the threats
with which they had threatened the Ionians when these were encamped
opposite to them: for in fact when they conquered the cities, they chose
out the most comely of the boys and castrated them, making eunuchs of
them, and the fairest of the maidens they carried off by force to the
king; and not only this, but they also burnt the cities together with
the temples. Thus for the third time had the Ionians been reduced
to slavery, first by the Lydians and then twice in succession by the
Persians.

33. Departing from Ionia the fleet proceeded to conquer all the places
of the Hellespont on the left as one sails in, for those on the right
had been subdued already by the Persians themselves, approaching them by
land. Now the cities of the Hellespont in Europe are these:--first comes
the Chersonese, in which there are many cities, then Perinthos, the
strongholds of the Thracian border, Selymbria, and Byzantion. The people
of Byzantion and those of Calchedon opposite did not even wait for
the coming of the Persian ships, but had left their own land first and
departed, going within the Euxine; and there they settled in the city
of Mesambria. 19 So the Phenicians, having burnt these places which have
been mentioned, directed their course next to Proconnesos and Artake;
and when they had delivered these also to the flames, they sailed back
to the Chersonese to destroy the remaining cities which they had not
sacked when they touched there before: but against Kyzicos they did
not sail at all; for the men of Kyzicos even before the time when the
Phenicians sailed in had submitted to the king of their own accord, and
had made terms with Oibares the son of Megabazos, the Persian governor
at Daskyleion. 20.

34. In the Chersonese then the Phenicians made themselves masters of all
the other cities except the city of Cardia. Of these cities up to that
time Miltiades the son of Kimon, the son of Stesagoras, had been despot,
Miltiades the son of Kypselos having obtained this government in the
manner which here follows:--The inhabitants of this Chersonese were
Dolonkian Thracians; and these Dolonkians, being hard pressed in war by
the Apsinthians, sent their kings to Delphi to consult the Oracle about
the war. And the Pythian prophetess answered them that they must bring
into their land as founder of a settlement the man who should first
offer them hospitality as they returned from the temple. The Dolonkians
then passed along the Sacred Road through the land of the Phokians and
of the Boeotians, and as no man invited them, they turned aside and came
to Athens..

35. Now at that time in Athens the government was held by Peisistratos,
but Miltiades also the son of Kypselos had some power, who belonged to
a family which kept four-horse chariot teams, and who was descended
originally from Aiacos and Egina, though in more recent times his family
was Athenian, Philaios the son of Ajax having been the first of his
house who became an Athenian. This Miltiades was sitting in the entrance
of his own dwelling, and seeing the Dolonkians going by with dress that
was not of the native Athenian fashion and with spears, he shouted to
them; and when they approached, he offered them lodging and hospitality.
They then having accepted and having been entertained by him, proceeded
to declare all the utterances of the Oracle; and having declared it they
asked him to do as the god had said: and Miltiades when he heard it
was at once disposed to agree, because he was vexed by the rule of
Peisistratos and desired to be removed out of the way. He set out
therefore forthwith to Delphi to inquire of the Oracle whether he should
do that which the Dolonkians asked of him:.

36, and as the Pythian prophetess also bade him do so, Miltiades the
son of Kypselos, who had before this been victor at Olympia with a
four-horse chariot, now taking with him of the Athenians everyone who
desired to share in the expedition, sailed with the Dolonkians and took
possession of the land: and they who had invited him to come to them
made him despot over them. First then he made a wall across the isthmus
of the Chersonese from the city of Cardia to Pactye, in order that the
Apsinthians might not be able to invade the land and do them damage.
Now the number of furlongs 21 across the isthmus at this place
is six-and-thirty, and from this isthmus the Chersonese within is
altogether four hundred and twenty furlongs in length..

37. Having made a wall then across the neck of the Chersonese and having
in this manner repelled the Apsinthians, Miltiades made war upon the
people of Lampsacos first of all others; and the people of Lampsacos
laid an ambush and took him prisoner. Now Miltiades had come to be a
friend 22 of Croesus the Lydian; and Croesus accordingly, being informed
of this event, sent and commanded the people of Lampsacos to let
Miltiades go; otherwise he threatened to destroy them utterly like a
pine-tree. 23 Then when the people of Lampsacos were perplexed in their
counsels as to what that saying should mean with which Croesus had
threatened them, namely that he would destroy them utterly like a
pine-tree, at length one of the elder men with difficulty perceived the
truth, and said that a pine alone of all trees when it has been cut
down does not put forth any further growth but perishes, being utterly
destroyed. The people of Lampsacos therefore fearing Croesus loosed
Miltiades and let him go..

38. He then escaped by means of Croesus, but afterwards he brought his
life to an end leaving no son to succeed him, but passing over his rule
and his possessions to Stesagoras, who was the son of Kimon, his brother
on the mother's side: 24 and the people of the Chersonese still offer
sacrifices to him after his death as it is usual to do to a founder, and
hold in his honour a contest of horse-races and athletic exercises, in
which none of the men of Lampsacos are allowed to contend. After this
there was war with those of Lampsacos; and it happened to Stesagoras
also that he died without leaving a son, having been struck on the head
with an axe in the City Hall by a man who pretended to be a deserter,
but who proved himself to be in fact an enemy and a rather hot one
moreover..

39. Then after Stesagoras also had ended his life in this manner,
Miltiades son of Kimon and brother of that Stesagoras who was dead, was
sent in a trireme to the Chersonese to take possession of the government
by the sons of Peisistratos, who had dealt well with him at Athens also,
pretending that they had had no share in the death of his father Kimon,
of which in another part of the history I will set forth how it came
to pass. 25 Now Miltiades, when he came to the Chersonese, kept himself
within his house, paying honours in all appearance 26 to the memory
of his brother Stesagoras; and the chief men of the inhabitants of the
Chersonese in every place, being informed of this, gathered themselves
together from all the cities and came in a body to condole with him, and
when they had come they were laid in bonds by him. Miltiades then was
in possession of the Chersonese, supporting a body of five hundred
mercenary troops; and he married the daughter of Oloros the king of the
Thracians, who was named Hegesipyle.

40. Now this Miltiades son of Kimon had at the time of which we speak
but lately returned 27 to the Chersonese; and after he had returned,
there befell him other misfortunes worse than those which had befallen
him already; for two years before this he had been a fugitive out of
the land from the Scythians, since the nomad Scythians provoked by king
Dareios had joined all in a body and marched as far as this Chersonese,
and Miltiades had not awaited their attack but had become a fugitive
from the Chersonese, until at last the Scythians departed and the
Dolonkians brought him back again. These things happened two years
before the calamities which now oppressed him:.

41, and now, being informed that the Phenicians were at Tenedos, he
filled five triremes with the property which he had at hand and sailed
away for Athens. And having set out from the city of Cardia he was
sailing through the gulf of Melas; and as he passed along by the shore
of the Chersonese, the Phenicians fell in with his ships, and while
Miltiades himself with four of his ships escaped to Imbros, the fifth of
his ships was captured in the pursuit by the Phenicians. Of this ship
it chanced that Metiochos the eldest of the sons of Miltiades was in
command, not born of the daughter of Oloros the Thracian, but of another
woman. Him the Phenicians captured together with his ship; and being
informed about him, that he was the son of Miltiades, they brought him
up to the king, supposing that they would lay up for themselves a great
obligation; because it was Miltiades who had declared as his opinion to
the Ionians that they should do as the Scythians said, at that time when
the Scythians requested them to break up the bridge of boats and sail
away to their own land. Dareios however, when the Phenicians brought up
to him Metiochos the son of Miltiades, did Metiochos no harm but on the
contrary very much good; for he gave him a house and possessions and
a Persian wife, by whom he had children born who have been ranked as
Persians. Miltiades meanwhile came from Imbros to Athens.

42. In the course of this year there was done by the Persians nothing
more which tended to strife with the Ionians, but these things which
follow were done in this year very much to their advantage.--Artaphrenes
the governor of Sardis sent for envoys from all the cities and compelled
the Ionians to make agreements among themselves, so that they might
give satisfaction for wrongs and not plunder one another's land. This
he compelled them to do, and also he measured their territories by
parasangs,--that is the name which the Persians give to the length
of thirty furlongs, 28--he measured, I say, by these, and appointed
a certain amount of tribute for each people, which continues still
unaltered from that time even to my own days, as it was appointed by
Artaphrenes; and the tribute was appointed to be nearly of the same
amount for each as it had been before..

43. These were things which tended to peace for the Ionians; but at the
beginning of the spring, the other commanders having all been removed
by the king, Mardonios the son of Gobryas came down to the sea, bringing
with him a very large land-army and a very large naval force, being a
young man and lately married to Artozostra daughter of king Dareios.
When Mardonios leading this army came to Kilikia, he embarked on board
a ship himself and proceeded together with the other ships, while other
leaders led the land-army to the Hellespont. Mardonios however sailing
along the coast of Asia came to Ionia: and here I shall relate a thing
which will be a great marvel to those of the Hellenes who do not believe
that to the seven men of the Persians Otanes declared as his opinion
that the Persians ought to have popular rule; 29 for Mardonios deposed
all the despots of the Ionians and established popular governments in
the cities. Having so done he hastened on to the Hellespont; and when
there was collected a vast number of ships and a large land-army, they
crossed over the Hellespont in the ships and began to make their way
through Europe, and their way was directed against Eretria and Athens..

44. These, I say, furnished them the pretence for the expedition,
but they had it in their minds to subdue as many as they could of the
Hellenic cities; and in the first place they subdued with their ships
the Thasians, who did not even raise a hand to defend themselves: then
with the land-army they gained the Macedonians to be their servants in
addition to those whom they had already; for all the nations on the East
of the Macedonians 30 had become subject to them already before this.
Crossing over then from Thasos to the opposite coast, they proceeded
on their way near the land as far as Acanthos, and then starting from
Acanthos they attempted to get round Mount Athos; but as they sailed
round, there fell upon them a violent North Wind, against which they
could do nothing, and handled them very roughly, casting away very many
of their ships on Mount Athos. It is said indeed that the number of the
ships destroyed was three hundred, 3001, and more than twenty thousand
men; for as this sea which is about Athos is very full of sea monsters,
some were seized by these and so perished, while others were dashed
against the rocks; and some of them did not know how to swim and
perished for that cause, others again by reason of cold..

45. Thus fared the fleet; and meanwhile Mardonios and the land-army
while encamping in Macedonia were attacked in the night by the Brygian
Thracians, and many of them were slain by the Brygians and Mardonios
himself was wounded. However not even these escaped being enslaved by
the Persians, for Mardonios did not depart from that region until he had
made them subject. But when he had subdued these, he proceeded to lead
his army back, since he had suffered great loss with his land-army in
fighting against the Brygians and with his fleet in going round Athos.
So this expedition departed back to Asia having gained no honour by its
contests.

46. In the next year after this Dareios first sent a messenger to the
men of Thasos, who had been accused by their neighbours of planning
revolt, and bade them take away the wall around their town and bring
their ships to Abdera. The Thasians in fact, as they had been besieged
by Histiaios the Milesian and at the same time had large revenues coming
in, were using their money in building ships of war and in surrounding
their city with a stronger wall. Now the revenues came to them from the
mainland and from the mines: from the gold-mines in Scapte Hyle 31 there
came in generally eighty talents a year, and from those in Thasos itself
a smaller amount than this but so much that in general the Thasians,
without taxes upon the produce of their soil, had a revenue from the
mainland and from the mines amounting yearly to two hundred talents, and
when the amount was highest, to three hundred..

47. I myself saw these mines, and by much the most marvellous of
them were those which the Phenicians discovered, who made the first
settlement in this island in company with Thasos; and the island had the
name which it now has from this Thasos the Phenician. These Phenician
mines are in that part of Thasos which is between the places called
Ainyra and Koinyra and opposite Samothrake, where there is a great
mountain which has been all turned up in the search for metal. Thus it
is with this matter: and the Thasians on the command of the king both
razed their walls and brought all their ships to Abdera.

48. After this Dareios began to make trial of the Hellenes, what they
meant to do, whether to make war with him or to deliver themselves up.
He sent abroad heralds therefore, and appointed them to go some to one
place and others to another throughout Hellas, bidding them demand earth
and water for the king. These, I say, he sent to Hellas; and meanwhile
he was sending abroad other heralds to his own tributary cities which
lay upon the sea-coast, and he bade them have ships of war built and
also vessels to carry horses..

49. They then were engaged in preparing these things; and meanwhile
when the heralds had come to Hellas, many of those who dwelt upon the
mainland gave that for which the Persian made demand, 32 and all those
who dwelt in the islands did so, to whomsoever they came to make their
demand. The islanders, I say, gave earth and water to Dareios, and among
them also those of Egina, and when these had done so, the Athenians went
forthwith urgent against them, supposing that the Eginetans had given
with hostile purpose against themselves, in order to make an expedition
against them in combination with the Persians; and also they were glad
to get hold of an occasion against them. Accordingly they went backward
and forwards to Sparta and accused the Eginetans of that which they had
done, as having proved themselves traitors to Hellas..

50. In consequence of this accusation Cleomenes the son of Anaxandrides,
king of the Spartans, crossed over to Egina meaning to seize those of
the Eginetans who were the most guilty; but as he was attempting
to seize them, certain of the Eginetans opposed him, and among them
especially Crios the son of Polycritos, who said that he should not with
impunity carry off a single Eginetan, for he was doing this (said he)
without authority from the Spartan State, having been persuaded to it by
the Athenians with money; otherwise he would have come and seized them
in company with the other king: and this he said by reason of a message
received from Demaratos. Cleomenes then as he departed from Egina, asked
Crios 33 what was his name, and he told him the truth; and Cleomenes
said to him: "Surely now, O Ram, thou must cover over thy horns with
bronze for thou wilt shortly have a great trouble to contend with."

51. Meanwhile Demaratos the son of Ariston was staying behind in Sparta
and bringing charges against Cleomenes, he also being king of the
Spartans but of the inferior house; which however is inferior in no
other way (for it is descended from the same ancestor), but the house of
Eurysthenes has always been honoured more, apparently because he was the
elder brother..

52. For the Lacedemonians, who herein agree with none of the poets, say
that Aristodemos the son of Aristomachos, the son of Cleodaios, the
son of Hyllos, being their king, led them himself (and not the sons of
Aristodemos) to this land which they now possess. Then after no long
time the wife of Aristodemos, whose name was Argeia,--she was the
daughter, they say, of Autesion, the son of Tisamenes, the son of
Thersander, the son of Polyneikes,--she, it is said, brought forth
twins; and Aristodemos lived but to see his children and then ended his
life by sickness. So the Lacedemonians of that time resolved according
to established custom to make the elder of the children their king; but
they did not know which of them they should take, because they were like
one another and of equal size; and when they were not able to make out,
or even before this, they inquired of their mother; and she said
that even she herself did not know one from the other. She said this,
although she knew in truth very well, because she desired that by some
means both might be made kings. The Lacedemonians then were in a strait;
and being in a strait they sent to Delphi to inquire what they should do
in the matter. And the Pythian prophetess bade them regard both children
as their kings, but honour most the first in age. 34 The prophetess,
they say, thus gave answer to them; and when the Lacedemonians were at a
loss none the less how to find out the elder of them, a Messenian
whose name was Panites made a suggestion to them: this Panites, I say,
suggested to the Lacedemonians that they should watch the mother and see
which of the children she washed and fed before the other; and if she
was seen to do this always in the same order, then they would have all
that they were seeking and desiring to find out, but if she too was
uncertain and did it in a different order at different times, it would
be plain to them that even she had no more knowledge than any other,
and they must turn to some other way. Then the Spartans following
the suggestion of the Messenian watched the mother of the sons of
Aristodemos and found that she gave honour thus to the first-born both
in feeding and in washing; for she did not know with that design she was
being watched. They took therefore the child which was honoured by its
mother and brought it up as the first-born in the public hall, 35 and
to it was given the name of Eurysthenes, while the other was called
Procles. These, when they had grown up, both themselves were at
variance, they say, with one another, though they were brothers,
throughout the whole time of their lives, and their descendants also
continued after the same manner.

53. This is the report given by the Lacedemonians alone of all the
Hellenes; but this which follows I write in accordance with that which
is reported by the Hellenes generally,--I mean that the names of these
kings of the Dorians are rightly enumerated by the Hellenes up to
Perseus the son of Danae (leaving the god out of account), 36 and proved
to be of Hellenic race; for even from that time they were reckoned as
Hellenes. I said "up to Perseus" and did not take the descent from a yet
higher point, because there is no name mentioned of a mortal father for
Perseus, as Amphitryon is for Heracles. Therefore with reason, as is
evident, I have said "rightly up to Perseus"; but if one enumerates
their ancestors in succession going back from Danae the daughter of
Acrisios, the rulers of the Dorians will prove to be Egyptians by direct
descent..

54. Thus I have traced the descent according to the account given by the
Hellenes; but as the story is reported which the Persians tell, Perseus
himself was an Assyrian and became a Hellene, whereas the ancestors of
Perseus were not Hellenes; and as for the ancestors of Acrisios, who
(according to this account) belonged not to Perseus in any way by
kinship, they say that these were, as the Hellenes report, Egyptians..

55. Let it suffice to have said so much about these matters; and as to
the question how and by what exploits being Egyptians they received the
sceptres of royalty over the Dorians, we will omit these things, since
others have told about them; but the things with which other narrators
have not dealt, of these I will make mention.

56. These are the royal rights which have been given by the Spartans
to their kings, namely, two priesthoods, of Zeus Lakedaimon and Zeus
Uranios; 37 and the right of making war against whatsoever land they
please, and that no man of the Spartans shall hinder this right, or
if he do, he shall be subject to the curse; and that when they go on
expeditions the kings shall go out first and return last; that a hundred
picked men shall be their guard upon expeditions; and that they shall
use in their goings forth to war as many cattle as they desire, and take
both the hides and the backs of all that are sacrificed..

57. These are their privileges in war; and in peace moreover things have
been assigned to them as follows:--if any sacrifice is performed at the
public charge, it is the privilege of the kings to sit down at the feast
before all others, and that the attendants shall begin with them first,
and serve to each of them a portion of everything double of that which
is given to the other guests, and that they shall have the first pouring
of libations and the hides of the animals slain in sacrifice; that on
every new moon and seventh day of the month there shall be delivered at
the public charge to each one of these a full-grown victim in the temple
of Apollo, and a measure 38 of barley-groats and a Laconian "quarter"
39 of wine; and that at all the games they shall have seats of honour
specially set apart for them: moreover it is their privilege to appoint
as protectors of strangers 40 whomsoever they will of the citizens, and
to choose each two "Pythians:" now the Pythians are men sent to consult
the god at Delphi, and they eat with the kings at the public charge. And
if the kings do not come to the dinner, it is the rule that there shall
be sent out for them to their houses two quarts 41 of barley-groats for
each one and half a pint 42 of wine; but if they are present, double
shares of everything shall be given them, and moreover they shall be
honoured in this same manner when they have been invited to dinner by
private persons. The kings also, it is ordained, shall have charge of
the oracles which are given, but the Pythians also shall have knowledge
of them. It is the rule moreover that the kings alone give decision on
the following cases only, that is to say, about the maiden who inherits
her father's property, namely who ought to have her, if her father have
not betrothed her to any one, and about public ways; also if any man
desires to adopt a son, he must do it in presence of the kings: and it
is ordained that they shall sit in council with the Senators, who are in
number eight-and-twenty, and if they do not come, those of the Senators
who are most closely related to them shall have the privileges of the
kings and give two votes besides their own, making three in all. 4201.

58. These rights have been assigned to the kings for their lifetime by
the Spartan State; and after they are dead these which follow:--horsemen
go round and announce that which has happened throughout the whole of
the Laconian land, and in the city women go about and strike upon
a copper kettle. Whenever this happens so, two free persons of each
household must go into mourning, a man and a woman, and for those who
fail to do this great penalties are appointed. Now the custom of the
Lacedemonians about the deaths of their kings is the same as that of the
Barbarians who dwell in Asia, for most of the Barbarians practise the
same customs as regards the death of their kings. Whensoever a king of
the Lacedemonians is dead, then from the whole territory of Lacedemon,
not reckoning the Spartans, a certain fixed number of the "dwellers
round" 43 are compelled to go to the funeral ceremony:

59. and when there have been gathered together of these and of the
Helots and of the Spartans themselves many thousands in the same place,
with their women intermingled, they beat their foreheads with a good
will and make lamentation without stint, saying that this one who has
died last of their kings was the best of all: and whenever any of their
kings has been killed in war, they prepare an image to represent him,
laid upon a couch with fair coverings, and carry it out to be buried.
Then after they have buried him, no assembly is held among them for ten
days, nor is there any meeting for choice of magistrates, but they have
mourning during these days. In another respect too these resemble the
Persians; that is to say, when the king is dead and another is appointed
king, this king who is newly coming in sets free any man of the Spartans
who was a debtor to the king or to the State; while among the Persians
the king who comes to the throne remits to all the cities the arrears of
tribute which are due.

60. In the following point also the Lacedemonians resemble the
Egyptians; that is to say, their heralds and fluteplayers and cooks
inherit the crafts of their fathers, and a fluteplayer is the son of a
fluteplayer, a cook of a cook, and a herald of a herald; other men do
not lay hands upon the office because they have loud and clear voices,
and so shut them out of it, but they practise their craft by inheritance
from their fathers.

61. Thus are these things done: and at this time of which we speak, 44
while Cleomenes was in Egina doing deeds 45 which were for the common
service of Hellas, Demaratos brought charges against him, not so much
because he cared for the Eginetans as because he felt envy and jealousy
of him. Then Cleomenes, after he returned from Egina, planned to depose
Demaratos from being king, making an attempt upon him on account of this
matter which follows:--Ariston being king in Sparta and having married
two wives, yet had no children born to him; and since he did not
acknowledge that he himself was the cause of this, he married a third
wife; and he married her thus:--he had a friend, a man of the Spartans,
to whom of all the citizens Ariston was most inclined; and it chanced
that this man had a wife who was of all the women in Sparta the fairest
by far, and one too who had become the fairest from having been the
foulest. For as she was mean in her aspect, her nurse, considering that
she was the daughter of wealthy persons and was of uncomely aspect, and
seeing moreover that her parents were troubled by it,--perceiving I say
these things, her nurse devised as follows:--every day she bore her to
the temple of Helen, which is in the place called Therapne, lying above
the temple of Phoebus; and whenever the nurse bore her thither, she
placed her before the image and prayed the goddess to deliver the child
from her unshapeliness. And once as the nurse was going away out of the
temple, it is said that a woman appeared to her, and having appeared
asked her what she was bearing in her arms; and she told her that she
was bearing a child; upon which the other bade her show the child to
her, but she refused, for it had been forbidden to her by the parents to
show it to any one: but the woman continued to urge her by all means to
show it to her. So then perceiving that the woman earnestly desired to
see it, the nurse showed her the child. Then the woman stroking the head
of the child said that she should be the fairest of all the women in
Sparta; and from that day her aspect was changed. Afterwards when she
came to the age for marriage, she was married to Agetos the son of
Alkeides, this friend of Ariston of whom we spoke..

62. Now Ariston it seems was ever stung by the desire of this woman, and
accordingly he contrived as follows:--he made an engagement himself with
his comrade, whose wife this woman was, that he would give him as a gift
one thing of his own possessions, whatsoever he should choose, and he
bade his comrade make return to him in similar fashion. He therefore,
fearing nothing for his wife, because he saw that Ariston also had
a wife, agreed to this; and on these terms they imposed oaths on one
another. After this Ariston on his part gave that which Agetos had
chosen from the treasures of Ariston, whatever the thing was; and he
himself, seeking to obtain from him the like return, endeavoured then
to take away the wife of his comrade from him: and he said that he
consented to give anything else except this one thing only, but at
length being compelled by the oath and by the treacherous deception, 46
he allowed her to be taken away from him..

63. Thus had Ariston brought into his house the third wife, having
dismissed the second: and this wife, not having fulfilled the ten months
47 but in a shorter period of time, bore him that Demaratos of whom we
were speaking; and one of his servants reported to him as he was sitting
in council 48 with the Ephors, that a son had been born to him. He then,
knowing the time when he took to him his wife, and reckoning the months
upon his fingers, said, denying with an oath, "The child would not
be mine." This the Ephors heard, but they thought it a matter of no
importance at the moment; and the child grew up and Ariston repented of
that which he had said, for he thought Demaratos was certainly his
own son; and he gave him the name "Demaratos" for this reason, namely
because before these things took place the Spartan people all in a body
49 had made a vow 50 praying that a son might be born to Ariston, as one
who was pre-eminent in renown over all the kings who had ever arisen in
Sparta.

64. For this reason the name Demaratos 51 was given to him. And as time
went on Ariston died, and Demaratos obtained the kingdom: but it was
fated apparently that these things should become known and should cause
Demaratos to be deposed from the kingdom; and therefore 52 Demaratos
came to be at variance greatly with Cleomenes both at the former time
when he withdrew his army from Eleusis, and also now especially, when
Cleomenes had crossed over to take those of the Eginetans who had gone
over to the Medes..

65. Cleomenes then, being anxious to take vengeance on him, concerted
matters with Leotychides the son of Menares, the son of Agis, who was of
the same house as Demaratos, under condition that if he should set
him up as king instead of Demaratos, he would go with him against the
Eginetans. Now Leotychides had become a bitter foe of Demaratos on
account of this matter which follows:--Leotychides had betrothed himself
to Percalos the daughter of Chilon son of Demarmenos; and Demaratos
plotted against him and deprived Leotychides of his marriage, carrying
off Percalos himself beforehand, and getting her for his wife. Thus
had arisen the enmity of Leotychides against Demaratos; and now by the
instigation of Cleomenes Leotychides deposed against Demaratos, saying
that he was not rightfully reigning over the Spartans, not being a son
of Ariston: and after this deposition he prosecuted a suit against him,
recalling the old saying which Ariston uttered at the time when his
servant reported to him that a son was born to him, and he reckoning up
the months denied with an oath, saying that it was not his. Taking his
stand upon this utterance, Leotychides proceeded to prove that Demaratos
was not born of Ariston nor was rightfully reigning over Sparta; and he
produced as witnesses those Ephors who chanced then to have been sitting
with Ariston in council and to have heard him say this..

66. At last, as there was contention about those matters, the Spartans
resolved to ask the Oracle at Delphi whether Demaratos was the son of
Ariston. The question then having been referred by the arrangement of
Cleomenes to the Pythian prophetess, thereupon Cleomenes gained over to
his side Cobon the son of Aristophantos, who had most power among the
Delphians, and Cobin persuaded Perialla the prophetess of the Oracle
53 to say that which Cleomenes desired to have said. Thus the Pythian
prophetess, when those who were sent to consult the god asked her their
question, gave decision that Demaratos was not the son of Ariston.
Afterwards however these things became known, and both Cobon went into
exile from Delphi and Perialla

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